244 On ihe Use of Ike Amianthus in China. 



grate: there were two doors to the ash-hole. This fur- 

 nace was supjx>rted by a kind of round dish with octa- 

 gonal edges, and raised on four small cubes. These edges. 

 were ornamented with a design exceedinglv simple : it con- 

 sisted of a continued series of circles, with small elevated 

 points in the centre. 



The outside and inside of this furnace were as smooth as 

 a card : its fracture was like that of pasteboard. M. de 

 Tersan, in whose jx)ssession I saw the vemaius of this fur- 

 nace, said to me therefore, " I do not know how the Chi- 

 nese can make furnaces of pastclward to withstand fire." 

 Having examined a fragment of this furnace, I found that 

 it was entirely amianthus. But in what manner are the 

 Chinese able to give it cohesion ? There is reason to pre- 

 sume that they know, as well as wc do, that mucilage of 

 gum adraganth has the property of giving body to stony 

 molecular, and of contracting with them such union that 

 even fire is not able to destjov it. We have a proof of this 

 in the cakes of ponderous spar, or sulphate of barytes, which 

 form the Bologna phosphorus, alter it has been calcined 

 for several hours among coals, which destroy neither ittf 

 form nor its solidity. 



To form these cakes the ponderous spar is pulverized. 

 And sifted through a silk sieve : it is then formed into a 

 paste, wiih mucilage of gum adraganth, and made into balls, 

 which being flattened are converted into cakes. 



The amianthus, of which tlie Chinese furnaces are made, 

 has been reduced to small parcels in amill,^and then mixed 

 wdth a mucilage to form a paste. This paste the Chinese 

 introduce into moulds, the form and polish of which it as- 

 sumes, whilst its outside plainlv exhibits the parcels of 

 which it is composed. This furnace is of a gray colour 

 inchniiig to red : it unites solidity to lightness, arid becomes 

 ■white by fire. In examining some Chinese production? 

 I saw a kind of stuff resembling our druiiget ; its woof is 

 only slips of paper. This stuff" has pliability and strength, 

 as may be easily . perceived. As the Chinese have the art 

 of making sheets of paper eighteen feet in length, it is not 

 astonishing to sec stuffs of this kind in pieces like the silk 

 stuffs made in other countries. 



*KU1L On 



