Chap. IX.] Mechanic Arts, 12.3 



art o^ Pottery, and in various kinds of mannfacturcs 

 in Clcnj ; the invention of a new and more dunihle 

 kind of Stucco than had ever been used before, bv 

 Mr. Iliggins ; the numerous improvements wliicii 

 have been made in the composition and manufac- 

 ture of Glass ; the ahnost countless new plans 

 for improving the construction of Lamps, by Ar- 

 gand and others ; the various modes proposed for 

 rendering Stoves and Fire-places more economical 

 and comfortable, by Franklin, llittenhousc. Rum- 

 ford, and Peale ; the new degrees of perfection to 

 which Clocks and other C/irono77ietcrs have been 

 carried * ; the invention of new vegetable mate- 

 rials for tlie formation of Paper, more plentiful 

 and, easy of access than those of which alone it 

 had been before made f ; the method of renovat- 

 ing' old paper, by a chemical process, cleansing it 



* Among the several improvers of Time-keepers, during the last 

 age, Harrison, Arnold, and Kendall were before mentioned as 

 deserving particular praise. The lirst was bred a carpenter, 

 and began by making wooden clocks. It is unnecessary to add, 

 that by the force of his genius he rose to the highest eminence 

 in the arts. 



t There is a particular reference here to the discovery of the 

 reverend- Mr. Senger, of Germany, that a certain aquatic plant, 

 called by Linnaeus conferva rivularis, is capable of being manu- 

 factured into paper, of as excellent a quality as that made of rags, 

 and at less expense. The same discovery was made a short time 

 afterward by Robert R. Livingston, esq,, late chancellor of the 

 state of New York, and now minister plenipotentiary to the 

 French republic, without any knowledge of what Mr. Senger 

 had done ; and indeed some time before tlie German discovery 

 had been communicated to the public. It has been also ascer* 

 tained that paper of an excellent qualit)' may be made of common 

 ^trau\ and that, in a state of mixture with other materials, even 

 ia-W'da&t is useful in fabricating the same substance. 



