TAH H AF. AT 655 
capacity seams. Fig: 7, isan elevation) and Tig. 8.0 section ofthis Hee 
arp on machine, in which A is the block or mould upon whieh 
ftom the wires. cameo 
this tool; the wire is bent at right angles, 
about an ir puoi ible: whine ae leaves protect 
from it, and this bent part is fixed in a handle. Phe 
of straw are now softened ‘in’ water, and plaited 
‘by children, with (great rapidity and exact- 
ness. "The most simple plait is that of three straws ; but 
__ this is only for very coarse articles, and the slips of the 
_ straws’are very broad: Sometimes whole straws are 
; nplo ces Si ire flat’ by’ softening them; 
and — them igh the’ fingers. The’ most 
esteemed plait is that of six straws, and is more or’ less 
valuable as it is finer or coarser; and’ after the plait 
is finished, it is p: several times between a pair of 
small wooden rollers, to render the ribbon flat and so- 
2 4 
them ina spiral direction, round a proper shaped wood- 
en mould or block witha little ‘overlap, ‘and sewi 
them fast together ;‘and when it’ is thus finished} the 
whole is passed over with a hot iron, to smooth’down 
the’ seams, and’ the block is then’ taken’ to’ pieces, to 
withdraw it from the hat, 8 
- — The°Society of Arts have lately published’ a descrip- 
tion of’a machine for ironing down the hats’ tpn the 
block. | For this purpose the block is fixed upon ‘a'ver-" 
tical spindle, so as to turn round Horizontally ; ‘ahd the 
pressure is piven by a heated steel plate, fixed’ in the’ 
middle ‘of'a long lever, the fulcruth of Which'is support-' 
ed with ‘an universal joint, at the top of ah iton stem’ 
rising up from the table which ‘the machine’ is 
placed. The opposite end of the lever has a handle 
with which the workman presses the ‘steel plate down 
upon the straw, and rubs it’ sidewise to smooth’ it’ 
down, at the same time he turns the block and hat round’ 
wtaes, an daacen® 8 wipe of cross arms provided ‘for’ 
that’p , to present every part to the action of the 
steel. An iron box is formed just over the steel plate 
to receive a red hot heater, and this is kept in by a lid. 
It is stated as a great ee of this machine, that 
pont phage of the lever be considerable, the hot 
steel plate can be quickly passed over the straw, and 
does not therefore injure the colour. / 
The im ion of straw hats from Germany and 
‘Italy is very considerable. They have the reputation 
of producing the best articles of that kind at Leghorn, 
from whence more than 12,000 dozen have been im- 
ported in one year. Mr Corstoul, in a memoir to the 
Sodiety of Arts, has shewn the practicability ‘of produ- 
‘ing an adequate substitute for this article In England, 
by plaiting the straw of rye, which he cultivated on a 
or sandy soil in Norfolk, sown at the rate of two 
ushels per acre. He found that the produce of four 
square yards, when manufactured, was ten yards of 
Leghorn plait, of four different qualities, and weighing 
one ounce. - 
pass _ Chips or shavings of wood are also used for making 
efor hats ; and some hats of this substance are woven alto- 
gether in one piece, or they are woven in wide pieces, 
which are afterwards ‘made up into the figure of the’ 
hat. Sometimes the chips are only used ‘as the ‘fabric 
of the hat, and are woven in with silk, which also co- 
pis Nie chips, and forms the exterior surface. A pa- 
| tent was granted in 1808°to Mr Thomas, of London, 
for an ingenious machine which weaves the whole hat 
ixviir, 
G lid’ Of these ribbéens the hat’ is formed, by winding im 
‘is depressed, and 
_ inthis‘way, and ofthe’ intended figure, ‘without *any 
the hat is to be formed, and so at adttn eees as 
to separate for the purpose of taking the hat is fix~ Fig. rt 
upon a square stem B, which rises and falls in a square 
tube D, by the action ofa pinion @ upon a rack which 
is fixed to the stem. ‘The tube D is su ed upon a 
pivot at the lower end, and is em at about half 
its length by a‘collar E, in the frame or pedestal EFF, 
which sustains the whole machine, but permits it to 
turn round upon the pivot, that the workman, who sits 
with the machine betore him, may bring every part of 
the block towards him. He can turn it round by apply- 
ing his foot to the cireular board or wheel ¢ @, which 
projects from the axle or tube D at the lower end. The 
top of the tube D ‘carries a cylindrical wooden box G, 
large enough to contain the block A without touching 
it’; and’upon the upper edge of this cylinder is fixed a 
projecting flaunch or circular’ plate.” Around the cir- 
ference of the’ plate, a circle is described, and a row 
of’holes pierced at equal distances, so as to divide the 
circle into’ 72" parts, ‘and’ each hole receives a wite h. 
Ifnniediately: within the row'another circle is made, aud 
— into the eins Rigas of holes’; but the wires # 
which’ pass’ through:these latter holes are interspaced 
between tHe fortaet, Each’ ‘wire’ has an eye ‘formed 
through its upper end, for the reception of a slip of 
chip, marked’ £1, ‘of which there will be 144 in number, 
, radiating fromthe centre of the block, to which ar 
throug 
wn, and 
to them, 
are all made fast’ by a plug ; and after passin 
the eyes of the Wien Faint f, the slips ee 
have) small leaden plumbets’ m,m appen 
to stretch them straight. 
The lower ends of the wires 7 are all jointed to a cir- 
cular ring of wood oo, which fits upon the external 
surface of the cylindrical box G, and: slides freely up 
anid down thereupon; in like manner the interior wires ¢ 
are Jointed at the lower ends to a similar ring 7%, which 
is connected with the former ring 0 0 by two small cords, 
which pass over pulleys fixed inthe flaunch g, and conse- 
quently when either the rings i or o are pulled down the 
other must be raised up, and vice versa. To draw down 
the lower ring’o, it has two wires p, p (Fig. 7) joined Fig. 7. 
to it at the opposite sides, and these descend to the 
treadle r, which the workman places his foot ; and 
the action ofthis pressure is to divide the whole num- 
ber of shreds of chip into two sets / and /, one of which 
e other elevated. The weaving is 
performed by passing a knitting needle filled with silk 
in the space or angle between & and /, until it has made 
a whole circuit round the block or crown of the hat ; 
then, relieving the pressure upon the treadle yr, the 
weights m_ cause the wire / and ring ? to descend, and 
the other set of wires 7, and their ring 0, to ascend, by 
which ‘means the’ situation of the chips and 7 become 
réversed, J being the uppermost, and £ the lowest. In 
this situation the needle is again passed round in the 
opening between them. This done, the treadle r is 
depressed to restore them to'the position of the Figure, 
and the needle is again passed ; and thus the operation 
is continued until the whole is woven together; the 
chips radiating from the centre forming the warp, and 
the silk the weft, running in circular or rather spiral 
lines, and passing alternately over and under every 
chip.’ In some cases two needles of silk are employ- 
ed, one Vase in one direction and the rice: m 
the opposite direction, or one passing over any chip 
whilee the other p under iat fa this way the 
whole’ surface of ‘the iter silk, the chips being all 
