1.To protect t h e i r h e a d s from the heat of the sun，from cold，and from r a i n ，p e o p l e at the presentday wear hats，bonnets，and caps；but among our savage ancestors，as amongmany savagetribesat the present day，the only head-covering in use was theirown thick，mattedhair.Among savage nations the need for clothing is generally little felt，and the clothes that are worn are often used more for ornament than for protection from the weather.
2.A thousand years ago，in the days of our Saxon forefathers，the usualcovering for the head was a cap，which was made either of cloth or of the skins of animals.Among the richer classes the cap was decorated with jewels or with ornaments of gold.Rounded orcone-shaped hats with brimswere also worn，but it was not until long afterwards that they came into common use for every-day wear.
3.In the thirteenth century ，a common form of head-dress was the hood.It was made of cloth，and it covered not only the head but the neck and shoulders as well，leaving only the face exposed.About the fifteenth century，the hood went out of fashion，and people once more returned to flat caps，hats，and bonnets for their head-dress.The bonnet was often richl y or namented with je wels andfeathers.You may have heard of an old Scottish coin called a “bonnet-piece.”It was made of Scottish gold.
On it the king，James the Fifth，is shown wearing a bonnet instead of a crown.In England，hats werecommonly worn in the time of Elizabeth，and theyhave continued to be used in various forms down to the present day.
4.The chief materials used in making hats are felt，silk，and straw.It is said that the way to make felt was discovered by accident.A man was going to a distant town；and ha ving tender feet，he putcardedwool into his shoes.When he cameto the end of his journey，he was greatly surprised to find that the wool had been pressed and beaten into a kind of cloth.
5.How could this be？If a hair of wool be examined under a microscope，it is seen to be covered with scales，which all point towards the tip.When two hairs are placed together，with their tips in opposite directions，the scales of the one fit into those of the other，so that the two clingclosely together.A sheet of felt，or a hard round ball，can be made of wool or hair in this way，by merely pressing or beating it.
6.The cloth which the man was so much astonishedto see had been made by his feet pressing the fibresof the wool closely together.The new substance was called felt，and soon machines were invented that made much better felt than a man‘s feet could ever have done.The fur of the hare，rabbit，and other animals was used for making felt.
7.For a long time the fur of the beaver was greatly prized for making hats，shaped somewhat like the “top-hats”worn nowadays，and consequently the beavers were killed in great numbers.Beaver-skins thus became so scarce and dear that hatters began to seek for other materials；and about the year 1810hats were first made of silk.It was not，however，until the first years of thereign of Queen Victoriathat silk hats or top-hatsbecame fashionable.At first they were manufactured chiefly in France.
8.The framework of a silk hat is made of several layers of cotton cloth，well covered with a kind ofvarnish，which makes it stiff and also water-proof.
and stretched，before the varnish is quite dry，and thus the plush is held firmly in its place，as if with glue.The edge of the brim is then bound with ribbon，and the lining put in.
9.hats are also made of straw.Wheat-straw is the best for this purpose，and is plaited either whole or split.It is said that straw hats were first introducedinto Britain by Mary，Queen of Scots，who tried toteach the women of Scotland to plait straw.She metwith little success；but her son，James the Sixth ，who became king of England as well as of Scotland，introduced straw-plaiting into Bedfordshire，which has ever since been the centre of the trade.
10.There women and children plait the straw in their own homes.They then take it to Bedford，Dunstable，or Luton，where it is made into hats and bonnets，which are sent to London，and thence to all parts of the world.