Naturally, the thoroughly softened shape, saturated with hot gelatine and hung to the rod by a thread, assumes during drying an appearance totally at variance with the proper shape, and in order to achieve the correct outline some means has to be employed that will at the same time render the gelatine amenable and also fix the contours. Ever since hats have been made, whether in the oldest woven form, or in the more recent plait sewn way, this process has been a necessity. In fact the smoothing for wear of the finished hat is a process considerably older than that of giving some extra firmness. In the account of the making of the Panama mention has been made of the use of wooden mallets to obliterate the ridges caused by the “setts” and to give a general outline of conformity to the hood, and even so in the case of British made hats, even before the stiffening methods of wicker, wire or buckram, hats were given a smoothening finish by means of some similar instrument. It is probable that in the earlier times wooden tools were used here, but of these there are no records clearly indicating their nature. The earliest instrument used in the trade of which there are existing examples were termed “Slicken Stones.” Of these there are two fine specimens in the Luton Free Library, and they are of different sizes, one about 4 ins. diameter and one about 6 ins. They are circular, but flattened with a rounded bevel edge something like the shape of a muffin, but with very smooth surfaces. Their mission was to remove all inequalities from the hat after weaving or sewing, contributing at the same time a smoothness which could not be obtained from wood. They were probably used from the earliest hat making times, and certainly played a part in the smoothing of hats made on wicker. Whether they were needed for the wire foundationed shapes is uncertain, as this medium was so easily adjusted by the fingers, but they undoubtedly were extensively employed in the shaping of the buckram supports, as this article, slightly damp, could be easily moulded. They were used cold, and the probability is that in the wicker and the buckram methods, a slight steaming over boiling water, immediately followed by the application and use of these cold “Slicken” stones, would result in the possibility of shaping and at the same time “setting” the material. About the commencement of the nineteenth century they were in common use around the South Bedfordshire hat making centres, and there is no doubt they were successful in their operations on hats both woven and sewn that were sufficiently firm in their straw nature. From what can be gleaned they were still in use when the first gelatine was used, but as the necessary steaming or softening of the hat was another process, the old established method was soon superseded by the use of irons, for it was found that with a damp cloth over the hat, the iron at one time could produce its own