CATGUT is employed in the fabrication of the strings of violins, harps, guitars, and other musical instruments; as also in the cords used by clockmakers, in the bows of archers, and in whip-cord. It is generally prepared from the intestines of the sheep, rarely from those of the horse, ass, or mule, and not those of the cat. The first stage in the operation is the thorough cleansing of the intestines from adherent feculent and fatty matters; after which they are steeped in water for several days, so as to loosen the external membrane, which can then be removed by scraping with a blunt knife. The material which is thus scraped off is employed for the cords of battle-doors and rackets, and also as thread in sewing the ends of intestines together. The scraped intestines are then steeped in water, and scraped again, when the large intestines are cut and placed in tubs with salt, to preserve them for the sausage-maker; and the smaller intestines are steeped in water, thereafter treated with a dilute solution of alkali (4 oz. potash, 4 oz. carbonate of potash, and 3 to 4 gallons of water, with occasionally a little alum), and are lastly drawn through a perforated brass thimble, and assorted into their respective sizes. in order to destroy any adherent animal matter, which would lead to putrefac
tion and the consequent development of offensive odors, it is customary to subject the C. to the fumes of burning sulphur—sulphurous acid, which. acts as an antiseptic (q.v.), and arrests decomposition. The best strings are used for musical instruments; and those which come from Italy, and are known as Boman strings, are the strongest. They remarkable for their clearness and transparency. Cord for clockmakcrs is made from the smallest of the intestines, and occasionally from larger ones, which have been split longitudinally into several lengths. Whip-cord is fabricated from C. which has been twisted in a manner somewhat similar to single-corded ropes. The C. obtained from the intestines of horses, asses, and mules is principally made in France, and is employed instead of leather-belts for driving machinery.