Goldbeater's skin—the outer membrane of calf's intestine—is a parchment traditionally used in the process of making gold leaf by beating, reducing gold into mere 1μm-thick leaves.
Up to 120 sheets of gold laminated with goldbeater's skin can be beaten at the same time, since the skin is thin, elastic and does not tear under heavy goldbeating.
To manufacture goldbeater's skin, the gut of oxen (or other cattle) is soaked in a dilute solution of potassium hydroxide, washed, stretched, beaten flat and thin, and treated chemically to prevent putrefaction. A pack of 1,000 pieces of goldbeater's skin requires the gut of about 400 oxen, and is only 1 inch thick.
Read more about Goldbeater's Skin: Uses
Famous quotes containing the word skin:
“Just as bones, tissues, intestines, and blood vessels are enclosed in a skin that makes it possible to bear the sight of a human being, so the agitations and passions of the soul are wrapped up in vanity: it is the soul’s skin.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)