400 Mechanic Arts. 



means of reducing cloth to a state of beautiful 

 whiteness in a few hours. 



In the art of Di/eing no less signal progress has 

 been made within a few years. The learned in- 

 vestigations and laborious experiments which have 

 been successively instituted for the improvement of 

 this art, by Dufay, Hellot, Macquer, D'Ap- 

 LiGNYjandBERTHOLLET, of Francc; and by Messrs, 

 Delaval and FIenry, and Dr. Bancroft,' and 

 others, of Great-Britain, are very honourably dis- 

 played in their respective works, and have been 

 productive of great utility to several of the manu- 

 facturing classes of the community. 



In the eighteenth century the first Porcelain ware 

 ever manufactured in Europe was produced. The 

 account of the invention is curious. John Fre- 

 3>erick Bottger, a German, about the year 1706, 

 believed, or pretended, that he had learned the 

 art of transmuting various substances into gold, 

 from a goldsmith at Berlin. He went into Saxony, 

 and was allowed all the requisite materials, and 

 every assistance necessary for prosecuting his ope- 

 rations, by certain persons who thought proper to 

 encourage him. For several years he laboured in 

 vain. At last, imputing his want of success to the 

 crucibles not being of a proper quality, he at- 

 tempted to make these vessels him'^elf, of a hard 

 and durable kind; and in this attempt he acciden- 

 tally produced porcelain .' The manufacture of this 

 article was afterwards extended to France, Italy, 

 and Great-Britain. But of all the countries of 

 Europe^ France produces porcelain in the greatest 

 quantity, and of the best quality. 



For many of the improvements lately made in 

 several of the manufactures last mentioned, we are 



r Experimental Researches concerning the Philosophy of Permanent Colours^ 

 by E. Bancroft, M. D. <?cc. 1794. 



s Monthly Review y vol. vi. N, S. p. 545. 



