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The tissue as pointed out, was the form analyst guide to the estimated 'true' odds for each horse in a race. Sometimes a horse would be marked as either a 'Danger' (one to keep on the right side off) or a complete no hope (lay as much as you can).
As the bookmakers turned up at the track in the morning many would buy the tissue (so named because it was written on tissue paper, enabling it to burn easily after use to prevent it falling into the wrong hands) from the analyst. He would then use these odds to make a book about a race, building a profit margin into the odds. Of course the larger firms would employ their own analysts.
An excellent book which mentions the tissue is "The Art of Legging: The History Theory and Practice of Bookmaking on the English Turf " by C.Sidney which also contains appendices on the mathematics of early bookmaking. Its also a great read in its own right.
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