Historical Notes on Kaolin 119 



merely substituted as an easy and convenient abbreviation for tun 

 $$., which means, as Giles rightly says, "a square block of stone." 1 

 The term pai tun-tse, therefore, simply signifies "white briquette," and 

 certainly is one of a purely commercial, not mineralogical character: 

 it relates to the color and shape of these blocks, as they are traded from 

 the places of production to the centres of porcelain manufacture. Our 

 mode of applying the term "petuntse" to the material, therefore, 

 is wrong. The fact that this rock, which enters into the manufacture 

 of porcelain, was roughly known to the Chinese long before the time 

 of this specific employment, cannot reasonably be doubted. 



1 In the second edition of his Dictionary, Giles has justly placed the term 

 "petuntse" under this character (No. 12205). 



