CHAPTER III.

PORCELAIN, STEEL, TIN, & c.

HE art of making porcelain originated ages ago. The Egyptians were acquainted with it, and we know that they used the same process as we do; so that it is probable that the art passed into Asia, and thence to China, where porcelain, called tse-ki, was common, as well as in Japan, four hundred and fifty years before Christ. The Portuguese imported this beautiful manufacture into Europe in 1517; they called it loca, whilst we, somewhat strangely, have borrowed their word porcelana, signifying a cup or porringer. The Chinese kept the precious composition a secret; but Baron Boeticher, chemist at the court, of the Elector of Saxony, discovered it, in the seventeenth century, by combining different earths for the purpose of making crucibles. The rumour spread into France and England, where every chemist set to work to make porcelain, but in vain until, at last, Mr. Tschirnhausen discovered a composition, to all appearances, similar to that in Saxony. He confided it to Mr. Homberg, in France, but they both died without having made the secret public. Reaumur guessed at the articles which must enter into the composition of the Chinese porcelain, and published some very just ideas concerning them, and the means of employing them. He made some, imitating the Saxon exactly, and thus gave France a useful art, as well as a new branch of commerce; and it was according to his directions, that the Marquis of Fulvy, governor of Vincennes, established there a porcelain manufactory, in 1738; but the success attending it was not equal to the zeal of the institutor, for the marquis lost all his fortune by it. In 1759, Louis XV. purchased the now almost desolate establishment, and transferred it to Sèvres. Mac

quer and Montigny, excellent chemists, enriched it by a composition, uniting all the qualities necessary for making first-rate porcelain, being no other than the kaolin and the petunse of the Chinese earths, of an extreme whiteness, discovered in 1757 by M. Vilaris, at Saint Yriex, in Limousin. The manufactory at Sèvres then obtained a great celebrity, which it still maintains. M. Reaumur is also the inventor of the discovery of turning iron into steel, a secret, before his time, utterly unknown in France. Tin was also first made under his directions.

This illustrious man, not yet content with all he had done for the human race, applied himself to the construction of a thermometer, which will maintain, in all places, equal degrees of heat and cold. This instrument bears his name, and is an imperishable monument to his glory.

It is said that tin was invented in Bohemia, towards the year 1610, by a priest of that country. Colbert introduced a number of those engaged in the manufacture of it into France, where they established a manufactory at Chesney, in Franche Comté, and at Beaumont Ferriere, in Nivernois; but at the death of the minister, not being well protected, and wanting in union among themselves, they left the country. At last, under the regency, in 1717, two manufactories were established at Strasburg, and at Massevaux, in Alsace; and successively at Bain, at Moramberg, and at Charité Sur Loire, where rapid improvements were speedily made in the malleability, the purity, and solidity of tin.

EBONY-WORK, LOCKS, SCULPTURE, ARCHITEC TURE, AND VARIOUS OTHER ARTS.

ORMERLY the name of ebony was given to numerous beautiful woods, and the workmen employed upon them were called Ebenists. Besides the common black ebony, there was red, yellow, purple, &c. Although this is no longer the case at the present day, the name of Ebenist is still applied in France to those who work in mahogany, walnut, ash, and elm.

This is an ancient art; it was first practised in Asia, and after

wards in Greece, at the time of Alexander's victories; it soon spread to Italy, and was much esteemed at Rome under the emperors, and highly thought of by all rich citizens. After the disorders caused by the northern invasion, it gained renewed splendour in the fifteenth century, contributing much to the beauty of the Vatican; whilst in all other countries the furniture was ugly and ungraceful. It was not until the end of the reign of Francis I., that it was cultivated with success in France, and in the beginning of the last century, this art underwent many changes. The French ebenists, from that time, have surpassed, in good taste and in talent, those of all Europe, and even of England, the only country which ever disputed the pre-eminence with them.

In ancient times, there were no locks on the doors. "People were contented," says Milline," with a fastening of string." Although this was a poor and ineffectual mode, a better one was soon adopted. A bolt was placed transversely across the door, on the inside, (as is still done in some parts of the country :) in the bolt was fixed an oval piece of iron which served to fasten the door. This piece of iron was hollowed, and a sort of screw answered the purpose of a key. In order to shut or open the door from the outside, the hand was put through a hole made over the nut or screw.

The Lacedæmonian lock was invented soon after. This is formed of a piece of hard wood, six inches high, four inches broad, and one inch thick. In this are made four or five longitudinal grooves or mortises, three and a half inches long, half an inch broad, and three-quarters of an inch deep, which are occupied by tenons or forelocks of hard and heavy wood, moving freely and independently of each other. The bolt is arrested by these tenons, which, descending vertically, oppose its exit; which cannot be effected except by raising the tenons with the key.

A great improvement was afterwards made in locks, by placing the bolt in an iron capsule, for greater safety. The same may be

said of the Lacedæmonian key. Sometimes a second bolt was placed on the inside, and could not be opened externally.

After the return of the expedition to Egypt, wooden locks of great strength and solidity, although roughly made, were exhibited. Similar ones have been found in Pompeii and Herculaneum. This same lock has been handed down from antiquity, for more than four thousand years, in Egypt, where it is still used for the gates of houses, cities, and public places. The Turks, Arabs, and Greeks of the Archipelago, have also adopted it. In France, great improvements have been made in locks in the last hundred years. Destriches, Damour, and Gerard, have obtained a great reputation in this line all over Europe.

M. Charles Dupin relates the following facts.

Locks were formerly unknown to the lower classes. Every one understands that little Red Ridinghood's grandmother called to her from within, "Pull the bobbin, and the latch will fly up;" and as with this old woman, so was it with all. At the present day the peasant has a much surer method of securing his doors and windows.

Formerly, in city houses, the windows, which opened like a folding-door, were closed at the foot by an upright bolt of wood; but this has long been replaced by one of iron.

Watch and clock-making, the origin of which is unknown, reappeared in Europe in 760, and continued until the twelfth century, with no very great improvements until the discovery of the pendulum by Galileo, which being applied to it in the beginning of the seventeenth century, there arose a spirit of emulation among the clock and watch-makers, such as Lebon, Leroy, Gaudron, Enderlin, Thiout, Rivez, Duterbre, Romilly, Lepaute, Berthoud, &c., who added new discoveries, giving to France a just renown.

The goldsmith's art, that of working in gold and silver, obtained great importance in Europe at the time of the discovery of America, which circumstance provided an increase of metals.