shows again the same characteristic structure with the dye inside
the fibre, colouring it a beautiful bluish-grey tint, the inner cellular
markings being black. A proofed fur fibre, on the other hand, when
examined under the microscope, is seen to be covered with a kind of
translucent glaze, which completely envelops it, and prevents the
beautiful markings showing the scaly structure of the fibre from being
seen. Finally, if we examine microscopically a proofed fibre which has
been dyed, or which we have attempted to dye, with logwood black, we
find that the fibre presents an appearance similar to that of rope which
has been drawn through some black pigment or black mud, and then dried.
It is quite plain that no lustrous appearance or good "finish" can be
expected from such material. Now how did the Continental hat
manufacturers achieve their success, both as regards dyeing either with
logwood black or with coal-tar colours, and also getting a high degree
of "finish"? They attained their object by rubbing the proofing varnish
on the inside of the hat bodies, in some cases first protecting the
outside with a gum-varnish soluble in water but resisting the
lac-varnish rubbed inside. Thus the proofing could never reach the
outside. On throwing the hat bodies, thus proofed by a logical and
scientific process, into the dye-bath, the gums on the outer surface are
dissolved and removed, and the dye strikes into a pure, clean fibre,
capable of a high degree of finish. This process, however, whilst very
good for the softer hats used on the Continent, is not so satisfactory
for the harder, stiffer headgear demanded in Great Britain. What was
needed was a process which would allow of a through-and-through proofing
and stiffening, and also of satisfactory dyeing of the stiffened and
proofed felt. This was accomplished by a process patented in 1887 by Mr.
F.W. Cheetham, and called the "veneering" process. The hat bodies,
proofed as hard as usual, are thrown into a "bumping machine" containing
hot water rendered faintly acid with sulphuric acid, and mixed with
short-staple fur or wool, usually of a finer quality than that of which
the hat bodies are composed. The hot acid water promotes in a high
degree the felting powers of the short-staple wool or fur, and, to a
lesser extent, the thinly proofed ends of the fibres projecting from
the surfaces of the proofed hat-forms. Thus the short-staple wool or fur
felts itself on to the fibres alr