Aciivnt of the ManufaElurt if Hats, 93 



Aikin, in his hiftory of Manchefter, fays, that in that part of the country, the hatters boil the 

 felt hats, after bowing and bafoning in a mixture of" ingredients of native growth." I wifli 

 the doflor would inform us, what he means by that phrafe ? as the cordies about Manchefter, 

 are better got up, than thofe in many other places, and it may be owing to fome vegetable put 

 into the pan during boiling. 



I am, Sir, 



Your's, &c. 



N. L. 



B 



Report and Obfervatlons on the Art of Hat-mak'tng. W. N. 



I Y a private letter of recommendation from the refpe(S}:able author of the fdregoing com- 

 munication, I vifited the manufactory of Meflrs. Collinfons', hatters, in Gravel-lane, South- 

 wark ; and conclude it will be interefting to many of my readers, to fee an account of the 

 prpcefs. 



The materials for making hat«, are rabbits' fur, cut off from the fkin, after the hairs have 

 been plucked out, together with wool, and beaver. The two former are mixed in various pro- 

 portions, and of different qualities, according to the value of the article intended to be made; 

 and the latter is univerfally, as I take it, ufed for facing the finer articles, and never for the 

 body, or main fluff. Experience has fhewn that thefe materials cannot be evenly, and well felted 

 together, unlefs all the fibres be firft feparated, or put into the fame ftate with regard to each 

 other. This is the objedl of the firft procefs, called bowing. The material, without any 

 previous preparation *, is laid upon a platform of wood, or of wire, fomewhat more than four 

 feet fquaref, called a hurdle, which is fixed againft the wall of the work-fhop, and is enlight- 

 ened by a fmall window, and feparated by two fide partitions from other hurdles, which occupy 

 the reft of the fpace along the wall. The hurdle, if of wood, is made of deal planks, not 

 quite three inches wide, difpofed parallel to the wall, and at the diftance of one-fortieth, or 

 one-fiftieth of an inch from each other, for the purpofe of fuffering the duft, and bther im- 

 purities of the fluff, to pafs- through ; a purpofe flill more effeiSually anfwered by the hurdle 

 of wire. 



The workman is provided with a bow, a bow- pin, a bafket, and feveral cloths. The bow 

 is a pole of yelfow deal-wood, between feven and eight feet long, to which are ,fixed two 

 bridges, fomewhat like that which receives the hair in the bow of the violin. Over thefe is 

 ftretched a catgut, about one-twelfth part of an inch in thicknefs. The bow-pin is a flick 

 with a knob, and is ufed for plucking the bow-flring. The bafket is a fquare piece of ozier 

 work, confifling of open flrait bars with no croffing or interweaving. - Its length acrofs the 



* Some writers mention a partial wetting of the fur while on the &in , by lightly fmearing it with a folution 

 •f nitrate of mercury to give it a curl. Meflrs. Collinfons do not ufe it, nor any other preparation. 

 t I give the numerical eftimates, not from meafure, but by memory. 



l;ars 



