123 3Iechanic A7'f§, [Chap. IX. 



dnccd porcelain *. The manufacture of this ar- 

 ticle was afterward extended to France, Italy, 

 and Great Britain. Ikit of all the countries of 

 Europe, France prmluces 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 

 much indebted to modern Chemist?']^. The impor- 

 tant aid furnished to these, and a multitude of 

 other mechanical operations, by the facts and prin- 

 ciples brought to light in the course of recent che- 

 mical inquiries, is too v/ell known to require ex- 

 planation. 



The manufacture of Metallic Hares, in modern 

 times, has made astonishing progress, both in ex- 

 tent and refinement. In Great Britain especially 

 those branches of the mechanic arts which belong 

 to metallic substances, and particularly the manu- 

 factures of Iro?i, have received the greatest de- 

 gree of improvement. The workmen of that coun- 

 try, in this department of art, have been enabled, 

 within a few years past, by various inventions and 

 discoveries, to unite rapidity of execution, elegance 

 of form and polish, excellence of quality, and cheap- 

 ness of price, in their manufactures, to a degree 

 without example in the history of human ingenuity. 



But to recite the mechanical inventions and im- 

 provements which belong to the period under re» 

 view would be a task almost without limits. To 

 this class belong the ingenious experiments and 

 valuable discoveries by Mr. Wedgwood, in the 



* Montklij RcxkK, vol. vi, N. S. p. 545. 



