Thus far we have proceeded along the same lines as the woollen manufacturer, but now we must deviate from that course, for he requires softness and delicacy for special purposes, for spinning and weaving, etc.; but the felt manufacturer, and especially the manufacturer of felt for felt hats, requires to sacrifice some of this softness and delicacy in favour of greater felting powers, which can only be obtained by raising the scales of the fibres by means of a suitable process, such as treatment with acids.  This process is one which is by no means unfavourable to the dyeing capacities of the wool; on the whole it is decidedly favourable.

So far everything in the treatment of the wool has been perfectly favourable for the subsequent operations of the felt-hat dyer, but now I come to a process which I consider I should be perfectly unwarranted in passing over before proceeding to the dyeing processes.  In fact, were it not for this “proofing process” (see Lecture VII.) the dyeing of felt hats would be as simple and easy of attainment as the ordinary dyeing of whole-wool fabrics.  Instead of this, however, I consider the hat manufacturer, as regards his dyeing processes as applied to the stiffer classes of felt hats, has difficulties to contend with fully comparable with those which present themselves to the dyer of mixed cotton and woollen or Bradford goods.  You have heard that the purpose of the wool-scourer is to remove the dirt, grease, and so-called yolk, filling the pores and varnishing the fibres.  Now the effect of the work of the felt or felt-hat proofer is to undo nearly all this for the sake of rendering the felt waterproof and stiff.  The material used, also, is even more impervious and resisting to the action of aqueous solutions of dyes and mordants than the raw wool would be.  In short, it is impossible to mordant and to dye shellac by any process that will dye wool.  To give you an idea of what it is necessary to do in order to colour or dye shellac, take the case of coloured sealing-wax, which is mainly composed of shellac, four parts, and Venice turpentine, one part.  To make red sealing-wax this mixture is melted, and three parts of vermilion, an insoluble metallic pigment, are stirred in.  If black sealing-wax is required, lamp-black or ivory-black is stirred in.  The fused material is then cast in moulds, from which the sticks are removed on cooling.  That is how shellac may be coloured as sealing-wax, but it is a totally different method from that by which wool is dyed.  The difficulty then is this—­in proofing, your hat-forms are rendered impervious to the dye solutions of your dye-baths, all except a thin superficial layer, which then has to be rubbed down, polished, and finished.  Thus in a short time, since the bulk of that superficially dyed wool or fur on the top of every hat is but small, and has been much reduced by polishing and rubbing, you soon hear of an appearance of bareness—­I was going to say threadbareness—­making itself