MODE II. CLAY SLATE. 257 



basso-relievos or cameos of it, of most exquisite 

 workmanship, and sometimes of considerable 

 size. I saw a picture made of it in the Imperial 

 Cabinet of Petersburg, more than two feet in 

 length, representing a landscape, with figures of 

 men and animals. These objects were of three 

 different colours, white, green, and red; the 

 ground, of a coffee colour, made the fourth. 

 Beautiful specimens of the Chinese cameos are 

 found in several cabinets at Paris, and especially 

 in the collection belonging to the Council of 

 Mines."* 



A fine piece of the same kind appears in the 

 grand collection of M. Dedree, brother-in-law of 

 Dolomieu. Some may also exist in England; 

 but although we carry on the chief trade with 

 China, there are not so many singular Chinese 

 articles in London as in Paris. The Chinese 

 musical balls, for example, are not known in 

 London. They are used by the Mandarins 

 when inclined to sleep, the mere heat of the 

 hand producing various sounds, like those of the 

 harp of Eolus. Faujas had one dissected, when 

 it was found to consist of minute wires of steel, 

 of various sizes, disposed according to some arti- 

 ficial rules. The first Parisian artists acknow- 



* Patrin Min, i. 124. 

 VOL. I. S 



