6. When another bat has been made in the same way, from the other half of the materials, the two are put together to form one, which is then worked in the damp cloth as before, until it is much contracted and matted together. After this, having been conveyed to another room, it is rolled in a woollen cloth, pressed, rubbed, and worked, with the hands and a rolling-pin, around a kettle of hot water, into which it is often plunged during the operation, which is called planking.
7. In this way, the materials are consolidated into felt, and the body contracted to the proper size. The reason why the process just described produces this effect, may be found in the nature of the fibres themselves. Upon a close examination, it will be observed, that these are covered with little scales, or beards, which admit of motion in one direction, but retard it in the other. This peculiar formation causes them to interlock in such a way as to become closely matted together.
8. When the body has been dried, and shaved on the knee with a sharp knife, to free it from projecting filaments, it is stiffened with gum-shellac dissolved in alcohol, and then steamed in a box, to cause the stiffening to set. It is now prepared for being napped.
9. The fur for the nap is prepared on the hurl, like the conical cap first described. In applying the nap to the body, the latter is wet with hot water, and flakes of the former are matted down upon it, by working it on the planks around the kettle. After three layers have been put on in this way, the cap is beaten, while wet, with sticks, to raise the nap, and then drawn over a cylindrical block, which gives it the general form of a hat.
10. The nap having been raised with a card, the hat is prepared to be colored. The dye is made, chiefly, of the extract of logwood, copperas, and verdigris. The hats, to the number of forty-eight or more, are hung upon a wheel by means of pegs, which pass through the centre of the blocks. This wheel can be turned, so as to keep one half of the hats alternately in the dye. After having been properly colored, they are taken from the blocks, washed, and dried.
11. The hat is now prepared for the finisher, who first whips up the nap with a ratan, and, after having rendered it pliable with steam, draws it over the finishing block. The fibres composing the nap, are properly disposed with a card and brush, and rendered smooth and glossy by means of a hot iron. The superfluous part of the rim is cut off with a blade, placed in a gauge. The hat is finished by adding suitable trimmings, the nature of which, and the mode of application, can be easily learned by examining different kinds of hats.
12. Hats of various colors have been worn; but those most in use are black, white, and drab. The white hats, which are intended only for ladies and children, have a nap of rabbits' fur, selected from the white skins. Drab hats are also made of stuffs of the natural color, assorted for that purpose.
13. The value of hats depends, of course, upon the workmanship, and the cost of the materials used in the manufacture. So great is the difference in these respects, that their price ranges between seventy-five cents and fifteen dollars. The woollen bodies used by hatters are now often procured from persons, who devote their attention exclusively to their manufacture.
14. Several years ago, woollen cloths were made in England, by the process of felting; but, on trial, they were found to be deficient in firmness and durability. Since the year 1840, an American citizen has been manufacturing cloths by this method; but, whether they are liable to the objection just mentioned, is yet uncertain.
15. Some kind of covering for the head, either for defence or ornament, appears to have been usually worn in all ages and countries, where the inhabitants have made the least progress in the arts of civilized life.