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certainly used it, and the Romans doubtless brought it here, by 

 way of Gaul. 



It consists of a circular disc, or solid wheel, revolving horizon- 

 tally. On this the "ball" of prepared clay or paste is placed, and 

 the "thrower," as the workman is called, puts his thumb, or 

 his fist, into the middle of the clay, and forms the vessel by 

 hand, and by wooden or metallic guides. The rotation of the 

 wheel thus ensures the vessel being symmetrical in shape, that its 

 horizontal section is a circle. The wheels are now generally 

 driven by steam ; formerly a boy or girl turned each wheel by 

 hand. But I fancy at first the potter himself worked the wheel by 

 a treadle, as one works a spinning machine, except that the wheel 

 would be horizontal and not vertical. I can't tell you the history 

 of the potter's wheel, or who invented it. But the inventor of the 

 treadle motion was one of the greatest benefactors mankind has 

 ever had. The potter's wheel, the spinning wheel, and the lathe, 

 all depend on it. 



The use of this machine gives a great superiority to the pottery 

 of the second period, and constitutes a marked difference between 

 it, and that of the first period. Another difference is in the paste: 

 the clay is carefully prepared, and the stones and sand are not left 

 in. When baked the paste is hard, and brittle, and sonorous ; it 

 is not porous, and the vessels are light and thin. 



The commonest kind of Roman pottery, of which we find pot- 

 sherds, is the Upchurch ware from the great potteries on the 

 Medway, which extended for seven miles long by two or three in 

 breadth, and from which all Roman Britain, and part of Gaul, was 

 supplied with most of its kitchen pottery. This pottery is of a 

 fine hard texture, and generally of a blue-black colour ; sometimes 

 greyish-black, and sometimes drab : the colour is due to its 

 being burnt in smother kilns. The forms of these vessels vary 

 amazingly, and they are graceful and elegant. The ornament- 

 ation is mainly circles and semicircles, vertical and other lines, 

 raised dots, etc. 



Another class of Romano-British ware is the Caistor or Duro- 

 brian, a blue-black ware made at potteries on the river Nen. It 



