403 Maniifa^vre of Hats. — Ttxture cf Hatr. 



the knowledge of the arts was in a great meafure confined to thofe who atlually pra£t'ifcJ 

 them. Error was propagated under the lliade of fecrecy, at the f.ime time that ufeful pro- 

 celTcs and imjirovcnients, which fortunate experiments liad difcovcred, were alfo confined 

 to the limits of individual works, beyond which they were never extended. At prefent, how- 

 ever, the arts cannot but participate in the falutary reform which has taken place on the foil 

 of equality. Every effort ought to be dire£\ed to the fame object, and every petty intereft 

 ought to be facrificed to the public welfare. Thofe myfterious refervations, thofe praftices 

 fo carefully concealed under the name of fecrcts, ought to be difclofed. The means of 

 amelioration and improvement ought not to remain concentrated in any particular work- 

 fliop. As foon as experience fhall have confirmed their edicacy, they ought to become the 

 public property *. Thefe confiderations induce me to point out certain procefles relative to 

 the art of the hatter, which for fome time paft have been employed with much fuccefs in a 

 large manufactory in the department of La Cote d'Or. 



The art of the hatter is wtll known to confift of a method of forming, with the wool or 

 fur of different animals, a kind of (luff of a denfe compaiSl texture, capable of affuming and 

 preferving any figure which may be given to it. To obtain this objeft a variety of procefles 

 are employed, partly chemical and partly mechanical, which may be reduced to four prin- 

 cipal operations; namely, felting, fulling, dyeing, and preparation. 



I fhall not here defcribe the operation of felting, nor the previous preparations rvhich fe- 

 deral kinds of hair demand in order that they may be ufed in manufaftures. This would 

 lead us too far from our prefent obje£l, and would be merely a repetition of what is gene- 

 rally well known ; efpecially fi nee the publication of the interefting memoir f of Citizen 

 Monee. in the fixth volume of the Annalcs de Chimie. 



^ ,1 fliall 



* The learned author has been carried a little too far by attending to one fide of the queftion only. No 

 private property can be better grounded than a man's right to the refults of bis own inttll«fl ; and there is none 

 that he can bet'cr defend. How far the public may acquire a right of the kind here mentioned, by propofing an 

 adequate equivalent for individual exertions and expence, is a queftion of great difficulty, whether it be morally 

 or politically confidered. N. 



+ As this memoir is not generally known in England, it will be ufeful to infcrt an abftrafl in tliis place. 

 Annalcs de Chimie, VI. 300. 



I. When a fingle hair is infpeftcdby the microfco)>e, under whatever magnifying power, it appears fmooth 

 and poli(bcd : t. Yet It is certain that the furfacc is not equally fmootli when rubbed in diifcrcnt longitudinal 

 direOions, but is compofed either of fcales like thofe of fifli, or imbricated zones like the lorns of animals. 

 For, 3. when a hair is held by the root, and drawn between the finger and thumb, there is little friflion, and 

 no noife j but, on the contrary, when it is held by the point, and drawn in the oppofite dircflion, the refift^mce 

 is more confidcrablc, the motion tremulous, and attended with a chirping noife. And again, 4. If an hair be 

 held between the finger and thumb, and rubbed, by alternately moving them in the direaiiin of its length, a 

 progrefTive motion will be produced, which is always with the root end fmcmoft. 5. The lame ftruflure may 

 be fljewn by tying two hairs together, and then giving the knot a few blovi's between the palms of the Iwnds; 

 for the knot will either untie iifelf, or draw clofer, accordingly as the afperiiics of the furfaces are placed in the 

 tying. 6. From this mcchanifm, which is common to wool and every other kind of hair, may be deduced the 

 harlh feel of woollens againft the Ikin compared with linens, and their irritating elTca upon wounds. 7. It is 

 the difpofition to progrclfive motion endwife which caufes hair to entangle and fiU itfelf together, when prefled 

 by the hatter between two linen cloths; to which laft they do riot unite, bccaufe \n fibres are fmooth. 8. Cut 

 hair is better than fuch as is plucked, becaufc the bulbous roots of the latter prevent the progrtflive motion. 

 •. The fibres of wool, being crooked, muft naturally move in curve lined direftions; bW thofe of the hare, the 



rabbit. 



