THE MEANS OF MAKING HATS, CAPS, AND BONNETS FOR MEN AND WOMEN, OF WHALEBONE, HARPS FOR HARPING, OR CLEANING CORN OR GRAIN, AND ALSO THE BOTTOMS OF SIEVES AND RIDDLES, AND GIRTHS FOR HORSES, AND ALSO CLOTH FOR WEBBING FIT FOR MAKING INTO HATS, CAPS, &C., AND FOR THE BACKS AND SEATS OF CHAIRS, SOPAS, GIGS, AND OTHER SIMILAR CARRIAGES AND THINGS, AND FOR THE BOTTOMS OF BEDF, AND ALSO WHALEBONE REEDS FOR WEAVERS, &c.
Year: 1806

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
BOWMAN, of Leith, in that part of the United Kingdom called Scotland,
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by His Let-
ters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Thirtieth day of October, in the forty-
seventh year of His reign, did give and grant unto me, the said Robert Bowman,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, His special licence, full power, sole
priviledge and authority, that I, the said Robert Bowman, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "THE MEANS
OF MAKING HATS, CAPS, AND BONNETS FOR MEN AND WOMEN, OF WHALEBONE, HARPS
FOR HARPING, OR CLEANING CORN OR GRAIN, AND ALSO THE BOTTOMS OF SIEVES
AND RIDDLES, AND GIRTHS FOR HORSES, AND ALSO CLOTH FOR WEBBING FIT FOR
MAKING INTO HATS, CAPS, &C., AND FOR THE BACKS AND SEATS OF CHAIRS, SOPAS,
GIGS, AND OTHER SIMILAR CARRIAGES AND THINGS, AND FOR THE BOTTOMS OF BEDF,
AND ALSO WHALEBONE REEDS FOR WEAVERS, &c. ;" in which Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Robert Bowman, under my
hand and seal, to cause a particular description of the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in
His Majesty's High Court Chancery within one calendar month next and imme-
diately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same (relation being thereunto had) may more fully appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert Bowman, do hereby declare that my said Invention is described as
follows, that to say:

page_text: The process of making hats, caps, and bonnets of whalebone for men and
women consists in making the whalebone soft and flexible by means of heat,
which may be produced either by steam, furnace, immersion in boiling water,
or in any way the workmen may find most convenient; and whilst the whale-
bone is in that state it is to be cut into such breadths as may be judged neces-
sary and proper for the purposes for which it is to be used; for example, in
making hats for military men or other persons, the breadth of the whalebone
should be such that one breadth may answer for the sides, one for the crown,
and one or more pieces for the brim; these, after being rasped, filed, and
scraped, are brought into the form required while the whalebono is in a soft
and flexible stato by working them on a block of the exact shape or form
wanted; and observe, either the block or the whalebone must be warm before
it bo attempted to put the hat or other thing into tho form wanted. When
the whalebone becomes cold it will retain the shape it received from the block,
which last may either consist of wood, metal, or any other proper material.
The joinings of the pieces of whalebone are to be fastened either by sewing, or
by applying an adhesive gum or cement, or by soldering with parts of itself,
as is done in manufacturing articles of tortoiseshell. The adhesive gum or
gluten is made by immersing picked isinglass into strong ardent spirits, and
applying heat until it is dissolved and rendered into a proper consistency fit for
use, when it is afterwards applied to the joinings while warm, and which gum
or gluten, when in a cold state, is not soluble in cold water. Indeed, any
other strong adhesive quality may be used and applied as above. The
soldering the joints of whalebone, like the joinings of tortoiseshell, is performed
by having the edges fresh rasped, and placing between the joints part of these
raspings, and afterwards applying a hot iron to both the inside and outside of
the joints; but the heat of the iron must be such as will cause the raspings to
run or melt into a pulp; when that takes place, the joinings must be pressed
together, and kept in that position till the whole is completely cold. The
work may after this be polished and finished off with sandpaper, powdered
charcoal, burnt cork, &c., by means of a woollen or flannel cloth, and varnished
with copal or any other clastic varnish, fine or coarse, as the quality of the article
may require. Hats for military men or other persons, manufactured as above,
will prove to be very light and durable, and, besides, will be found to be
incapable of being penetrated by the cut of a sword or other weapon. They
will also be impervious to water, be thereby comfortable to the soldier, and will
free him from much labor and attention he was formerly obliged to bestow. The
hats may be made of such a quality as to suit persons in the highest rank in life.
The process of manufacturing hats, caps, and bonnets similar to those made
of straw and of chip, commonly called leghern hats, &c., consists in seperating

page_text: the whalebone while in its soft and flexible state, produced by heat, as before
described, into such breadths as may be wished to have the plaiting in fineness;
the splits are varied accordingly as may be judged necessary to suit a fine or
coarse plaiting or webbing, previous to which the splits are to be reduced to a
certain thinness and breadth either by means of a knife, by the hand or by
the aid of machinery, as may be deemed most prudent or convenient. They
are then to be plaited into a plaiting or webbing (as straw or chip are plaited
or woven) while either in a cold or hot state, which plaiting or webbing is to
be stiched or sewed up into the form of hats, caps, or bonnets for men or
women, to accomplish which the same process is to be pursued as usual in the
manufacturing straw, chip, or leghorn hats, bonnets, &c., by sewing or other-
ways forming it, after which they may be dyed, stained, or varnished, so as to
make them waterproof. They also may be lined with silk, leather, or other
material, as fancy may direct..
The process of manufacturing harps or riddles for cleaning corn or other
grains, &c. consists in forming the whalebone into splits (while in a soft and
flexible state, produced by heat, as before described,) of such grist or size as
may be deemed sufficient to resist the action or pressure which may come in
contact with it in the operation of riddling or cleaning corn, grain, or other
things. The same method is applied in fixing the splits into harps as is usually
practised in fixing those which are made wholly of wood, and filled either with
split wood or wire. The process of manufacturing bottoms and sides of sieves
and riddles of whalebone consists in reducing the whalebone while soft and
flexible into similar splits as wood or wire is for making sieves and riddles, after
which these splits are to be worked. by plaiting, cross plaiting, intertwining, or
weaving close or open mashes or openings, so to clean or riddle corn, grain, or
other things requiring to be sifted. They may be formed or shaped like the
wood or wire ones, or in any other way that may answer the purposes intended.
Harps, riddles, and sieves thus made of whalebone will be free from every
dangerous or pernicious quality, and are therefore far preferable to those
made of iron, brass, or other metallic substances, the exords of which are very
poisonous, and particles thereof may fall off, be mixed and grinded along with the
grain, which, when taken into the stomach, produces debility, and often death.
The process of manufacturing whalebone into girths is as follows:-When
the whalebone has been made soft and flexible by the means before described,
while hot, it is to be immersed in oil for some days, when it will be more pliant
and stronger than it formerly was, after which it must be cut into such breadths
(while warm and pliant) as may be found necessary to render it fit for breech-
ing or traces for horses.or other animals that draw in carriages. Whalebone
prepared in this manner is less liable to rot and is more durable than leather.

page_text: A plaiting or narrow webbing may also be made of the pliant slips, to be used
as reins or straps of leather, for harnessing horses, &c.
The process of manufacturing whalebone into backs and scats of chairs,
sofas, gigs, coaches, and other carriages and things, consists in preparing the
whalebone as is done for plaiting webbing for hats, &c., and with the splits of
whalebone to work a webbing, according to the fancy, in like manner as has
been formerly done, with canc, by plaiting, twisting, intertwining, warping,
weaving, and tweeling, by which various figures may be thrown upon the
surface of the same, such as names, crests, coat of arms, &c., and which may be
varied according to the experience and genius of the workmen employed.
The process of manufacturing of whalebone for bottoms of beds consists in
warping and weaving, with splits or straps of whalebonc, either in separate
frames or in the original bed, stock, or frame, a webbing or cloth of whalebone,
which may be varied according to fancy, and which, it is imagined, will be
more elastic, more durable, and less liable to harbour vermin or any contageous
matter than the materials hitherto used for that purpose.
The process of manufacturing of whalebone into reeds for weavers, and fit
for weaving linen, cotton, silk, or woollen cloth, consists in preparing the
whalebone while in a pliant state to that size which will suit the coarsest or
finest recd, when they are rasped, filed, and polished, so as to answer for fineness
or coarseness to suit such fabric of cloth as the weaver may require. The
frame of the reed is also made of whalebonc, and when all these are brought
to their proper size they are then made, formed, and fashioned as is usually
performed in making weavers' reeds of wooden frames and Spanish reed splits,
according to the experience and genius of the workmen employed. The
frames and splits of reeds thus made of whalebone will be more durable and
less liable to rot or decay than those hitherto made of wood, iron, steel, or other
materials.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Bowman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and six.
Signed, sealed, and delivered in the
presence of
DAVID SWAN,
KUBER.
BO VMAN.
L.S.)
of Leith, Merchant,
Witness.

page_text: Affidavit.-William Hewison, of Edinburgh, Notary Public, maketh oath
that he was present and did see Robert Bowman, of Leith, Manufacturer,
sign, seal, and, as his act and deed, acknowledge and deliver a certain deed
poll or instrument in writing, hereunto annexed, bearing date the Twenty-
fourth day of November current, purporting to be a Specification to describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Robert Bowman's Invention of the Means
of making Hats, Caps, and Bonnets for Men and Women, of Whalebonc,
Harps for Harping or Cleaning of Corn or Grain, and also the Bottoms of
Sieves and Riddles, and Girths for Horses, and also Cloth for Webbing fit for
making into Hats, Caps, &c., and for the Backs and Seats of Chairs, Sofas,
Gigs, and other similar Carriages and Things, and for the Bottoms of Beds,
and also Reeds for Weavers, &c. And this deponent (Will. Hewison, N. P.)
further make oath and saith, that the name or character "Robert Bowman,"
set at the foot of the said deed poll, as the party executing the same, is of the
proper handwriting of the said Robert Bowman. And this deponent further
saith, that the names David Swan and John Weir, sett and subscribed at
the foot of the said deed poll or instrument as the witnesses to the signing and
sealing of the said deed poll, are of the respective handwritings of the said David
Swan and John Weir.