WHITE THORN WHITEFIELD. 



39 



writers have generally distinguished this terrible , 

 disease into two kinds, namely, rheumatic and scro- i 

 fulous. The last species of the disease they also 

 distinguish into such tumours as primarily affect the 

 bones, and then the ligaments and soft parts ; and 

 into other cases, in which the ligaments and soft 

 parts become diseased before there is any morbid 

 affection of the bones. The knee, ankle, wrist and 

 elbow are the joints most subject to white swellings. 

 The pain is sometimes vehement from the very 

 first; in other instances, there is hardly the least 

 pain in the beginning of the disease. Sometimes 

 the pain continues without interruptions; some- 

 times there are intermissions ; and, in other in- 

 stances, the pain recurs at regular times, so as to 

 have been called, by some writers, periodical. At 

 the commencement of the disease, in the majority 

 of instances, the swelling is very inconsiderable, or 

 there is even no visible enlargement whatever. In the 

 little depressions naturally situated on each side of 

 the patella, a fulness first shows itself, and gradually 

 spreads all over the affected joint. The patient, una. 

 ble to bear the weight of his body on the disordered 

 joint, in consequence of the great increase of pain 

 thus created, gets into the habit of only touching 

 the ground with his toes ; and the knee, being ge- 

 nerally kept a little bent, in this manner soon loses 

 the capability of becoming extended again. When 

 white swellings have lasted a while, the knee is 

 almost always found in a permanent state of flexion. 

 In scrofulous cases of this kind, pain constantly 

 precedes any appearance of swelling ; but the inter- 

 val between the two symptoms differs very much in 

 different subjects. The morbid joint in the course 

 of time, acquires a vast magnitude. Still the inte- 

 guments retain their natural colour, and remain un- 

 affected. The enlargement of the articulation, 

 however, always seems greater than it really is, in 

 consequence of the emaciation of the limb both 

 above and below the disease. As the distemper of 

 the articulation advances, collections of matter form 

 about the part, and at length burst. The ulcerated 

 openings sometimes heal up ; but such abscesses are 

 generally followed by other collections, which pur- 

 sue the same course. In some cases these abscesses 

 form a few months after the first affection of the 

 joint ; on other occasions, several years elapse, and 

 no suppuration of this kind makes its appearance. 

 The patient's health becomes gradually impaired : 

 he loses his appetite and natural rest and sleep ; his 

 pulse is small and frequent : and obstinate debilitat- 

 ing diarrhoea, and profuse nocturnal sweats, ensue. 

 Rheumatic white swellings are very distinct diseases 

 from the scrofulous distemper of large joints. In 

 the first, the pain is said never to occur without 

 being attended with swelling. Scrofulous white 

 swellings, on the other hand, are always preceded by 

 a pain, which is particularly confined to one point 

 of the articulation. In rheumatic cases the pain is 

 more general, and diffused over the whole joint. 

 External irritation, either by exposure to damp or 

 cold, or by the application of violence, is often con- 

 cerned in bringing on the disease ; but very fre- 

 quently no cause of this kind can be assigned for the 

 complaint. As for scrofulous white swellings, there 

 can be no doubt that they are under the influence 

 of a particular kind of constitution, termed a scro- 

 fulous or strumous habit. In this sort of tempera- 

 ture every cause capable of exciting inflammation, or 

 any morbid and irritable state of a large joint, may 

 bring on such disorder *as may end in this disease. 

 WHITE THORN. See Hawthorn. 



WHITE WARE is made of pipe-clay, which 

 contains so little of oxide of iron that it does not 

 turn red in burning. In Wedgewood's manufac- 

 tory, the clay is prepared by bringing it to a state 

 of minute division by the aid of machinery. This 

 machinery consists of a series of iron blades, or 

 knives, fixed in an upright axis, and made to re- 

 volve in a cylinder, and intersecting or passing be- 

 tween another set of blades, which are fixed to the 

 cylinder. The clay is thus minutely divided, and 

 when sufficiently fine, is transferred to a vat. It is 

 here agitated with water until it assumes the con- 

 sistence of a pulp, so thin, that the coarser or stony 

 particles subside to the bottom after a little rest, 

 while the finer clay remains in suspension. This 

 last is poured off and suffered to subside ; after 

 which it is passed through sieves of different fine- 

 ness, and becomes sufficiently attenuated for use. 

 To this clay is added a certain quantity of flint, re- 

 duced to powder by heating it red-hot, and throw- 

 ing it into cold water to diminish the cohesion of 

 its parts. Afterwards, it is pounded by machinery, 

 ground in a mill, sifted, and washed precisely as the 

 clay is treated, and made into a similar pulp. la 

 this state the two ingredients are intimately mixed 

 together. The addition of flint lessens the shrink- 

 ing of the clay in the fire, and thus renders it less 

 liable to warp and crack in the burning. At the 

 same time, by its partial fusion, it communicates to 

 the ware that beautiful translucency which is so 

 much admired in porcelain, and of which the simple 

 clay wares are destitute. (See China ware.} The 

 fine pulp of flint and clay being intimately mixed, is 

 then exposed to evaporation by a gentle heat, until 

 the superfluous water is dissipated, and the mass re- 

 duced to a proper consistency to work. To produce 

 a uniformity in the thickness of the material, it is 

 taken out in successive pieces, which are repeatedly 

 divided, struck, and pressed together, till every 

 part becomes blended with the rest. 



WHITEFIELD, GEORGE, founder of the Calvin- 

 istic Methodists, was born at Gloucester, where bis 

 parents kept the Bell inn, Dec. 16, 1714. He waa 

 the youngest of seven children ; and his father dy- 

 ing in- his infancy, the care of his education de- 

 volved upon his mother. He was sent to a gram- 

 mar school at Gloucester, where he distinguished 

 himself by a ready memory and good elocution. 

 Being destined to assist his mother in the business 

 of the inn, he was taken early from school, and for 

 some time officiated in a blue apron as drawer. At 

 the age of eighteen, however, he embraced an offer of 

 being entered as ser vitorat Pembroke college.Oxford, 

 where he became acquainted with the Wesleys, and 

 joined the small society which procured them the 

 name of Methodists. (See Methodist and Wesley.) 

 Here, in addition to religious preaching, reading, and 

 visits to gaols, and to the poor, he describes himself 

 as lying whole days, and even weeks, on the ground 

 in prayer, choosing the worst sort of food, and dress- 

 ing in a patched gown and dirty shoes, to acquire a 

 habit of humility. Hearing of his devotional ten- 

 dencies, doctor Benson, bishop of Gloucester, made 

 him an offer of ordination, at the early age of 

 twenty-one, which he accepted ; and he was or- 

 dained a deacon in 1736. Such was his strain of 

 preaching, that, at his first sermon at Gloucester, a 

 complaint was made to the bishop that he had 

 driven fifteen people mad ; on which the prelate 

 observed that he hoped the madness would not be 

 forgotten before the next Sunday. The week fol- 

 lowing, he returned to Oxford, where he graduated 



