Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 2, 1802).djvu/469

Rh  to soften and give the hat its final shape, after which it is lined and trimmed for sale.

A patent was granted in January 1782, to Mr., of Southwark, hat-dyer; for his method of dyeing, staining, and colouring beaver hats green, or any other colour.—The inventor directs the nap of the hat to be raised by means of a card, on the side intended to be dyed, and then boiled in alum and argol. A thin paste should be made of flour, or clay, which is spread over every part that is not to be dyed, and then closed; or the hat may be previously pasted, and instead of being boiled, it should be only simmered in the same liquor. As soon as the paste is spread, plates of copper or other metal, shaped like a common funnel, are fixed over the paste, to prevent the dye from penetrating through. In this state, the hat is immersed in the dye, till the colour be sufficiently fixed; when it is taken out, opened, and cleansed from the paste: but, if any colouring particles have penetrated through the felt, they may be removed by rubbing them with a small quantity of spirit of salt, aqua fortis, &c. The compounds employed in dyeing, are fustic, turmeric, ebony, saffron, alum, argol, indigo, and vitriol, with urine, or pearl-ash, at the option of the dyer; all of which are used together, or separately, according to the colour required.

Among the different patents granted to hatters, for discovering new materials in this manufacture, such as that of Mr. J., in 1792, for mole-fur; and another to Mr. J. , in l794, for kid-hair; we shall only notice an invention of Mr. , who, in November 1794, obtained a patent for his Water-proof Hats, in imitation of beaver.

The articles he employs are similar to those commonly used for the making of hats, with which he mixes Bergam, Piedmont, or Organzine silk. These are dressed and worked in a peculiar manner; though we understand that hats thus prepared become heavy and oppressive to the wearer, while they acquire an ugly colour.—The curious reader will find the patentee's specification inserted, at full length, in the 4th vol. of the Repertory of Arts and Manufactures. The same manufacturer procured another patent in November 1798, for a method of ventilating the crowns of hats. This invention consists in separating the top from the sides of the crown, so that the tip, or top-crown, may be either raised or let down at pleasure, in order to admit the external air, or to exclude it from circulating in the crown of the hat. The whole contrivance is effected by means of springs, sliders, sockets, grooves, loops, and cases, which are connected with the top and side-crown: thus the admission or exclusion of atmospheric air in front, behind, or on either side, may be regulated accordingly.—As this invention is ingenious, we refer the reader to the 10th vol. of the work last quoted, where he will find a minute account, illustrated by an engraving.  HATCHING, is the maturation of, or communicating life to, fecundated eggs, either by the incubation and warmth of the parent bird, or by artificial heat.

The art of hatching chickens by means of ovens, has been long practised in Egypt, where it is 