PHILIPPINE HATS. 
97 
and mats in the Archipelago ; at the least, the work done must have been of 
such a nature that he believed it possible to build up an extensive export trade. 
Yet he says elsewhere that hats were being imported at high prices. 
Cavanilles 17 gives the first scientific data on the subject. “In Luzoniensis 
insulae provincia Camarines, quae Nova Cazeres etiam dicitur, oppidum exstitit 
Nabfia nomine, cuius incolae diversa perficiunt texta ex huius plantae caulibus, 
et praesertim galeros, nunc proprio caulium colore nunc aliis variegatos. Mundant 
primo caules, quos longitudinaliter in laminas sectos adeo lente textoriae arti 
parant, ut mensem fere integrum unusquisque textor galero unico conficiendo 
consumat. Ludovicus N6e.” 18 
N6e arrived in the Philippines as one of the botanists of the Malaspina expedi- 
tion, on March 27, 1792. Although he was a botanist of high repute, his name 
is not even mentioned in Presl’s “Reliquiae Haenkeanae,” which gives a long 
account of the wanderings of another botanist of the party, probably because 
of some petty national jealousy. Attempts to construct an itinerary for him 
from the references in Cavanilles lead to confusion, but it is probable that his 
observations were made about February, 1793. The species, concerning which 
the above statements were made, was Ugena semihastata Cav., now known as 
Lygodium semihastatum (Cav.) Desv. 
Blanco, 19 referred to Cavanilles’ note, and stated that hats were made of this 
and two other species of Lygodium, one called by him Ugena alba being probably 
L. circirmatum (Burm.) Sw., the other, left unnamed, is probably L. japonicum 
(Thunb.) Sw. According to Blanco, the best hats were those made from L. 
semihastatum. At present, when nito has become a minor material, at least the 
only species the use of which has been proven with certainty is Lygodium 
circinnatum. 
It is almost impossible to determine which of the hats mentioned by 
early writers were what would now be called by that name, and which 
were salacots. The latter may well have been introduced with the first 
Malay settlers, but the various types, of which there are many, are 
distinctly local. Many writers have mentioned the tendency of the 
Filipinos to imitate, and it is probable that hats, in the strictest sense, 
were first made here, either at the direct instigation of the Spaniards, or 
in imitation of those worn by them. They are nearly always called by 
the Spanish name of sombrero , for which there seems to be no exact 
equivalent in any local dialect. 
Attempts to ascertain from the literature and by inquiries, the dates 
of origin of the work in definite localities have brought little result. 
However, there is a definite tendency to fix the date as about two centuries 
ago, and tb indicate the materials originally used as nito and bejuco 
(rattan). At Baliuag and Pulilan, adjoining towns, each making more 
17 Ic. 6 (1801) 74. 
18 A free translation is: “In Nabua, in the province of Ambos Camarines, Luzon, 
the inhabitants make various articles from the stems of nito, Lygodium semi- 
hastatum, hats especially, sometimes of the natural color of the dried stems, 
sometimes variegated. The stems, after cleaning, are divided longitudinally into 
such slender strips that a weaver takes nearly a month to make a single hat.” 
19 FI. Filip. (1837) 822-824. 
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