HAT AND FUR FELTING FIBRES. 



219 



" These different qualities of fur are mixed in proportions, dependent 

 upon the price of the finished article which is required, and may roughly 

 be said to constitute the foundation of all fur hats which are made. 



"The surface, in the case of a hat of apparently superior quality, is, as 

 will be subsequently shown, manipulated by a process of some interest 

 and importance, by means of which other furs are superadded." 



Fur fibres used in hat-making are much shorter than those of wool, 

 and the serrations or imbrications of the scales are more closely set and 

 indented transversely. 



Wool. Merino or Australian wool is largely used by hatters for 

 felting purposes in the manufacture of what are known as felt hats. 



Fig. 141. Merino wool fibre (magn.). 



Fig. 141 shows the fibres of merino wool highly magnified under a 

 ^-inch objective. The fibres are cylinders with numerous overlapping or 

 imbricated scales. If the fibres are mounted in hot water and then put 

 on the field of the microscope, the scales will appear less imbricated than 

 before ; but where the fibres cross the scales they interlock with the 

 open spaces on the other, as shown in the illustration, which is from a 

 photograph of fibres immediately after removal from a hot soda solution. 

 This may be regarded as one of the best principles in felting without the 

 assistance of any adhesive substances, which become necessary when the 

 fibres are manipulated for hat bodies, etc. Wool noils are also used in 

 the making of felt hats. 



