200 HEAD OF FLINT. 



not preceded by any trial, to adjust the doses of the agents, 



and the duration and intensity of the fire. The flint was not 



altered internally ; it only acquired a very thin coat on its 



surface, of a uniform thickness, united into one body with 



the mass, unattackable by acids, and of such hardness, that 



of great bard-, it rapidly wore away the stones used by lapidaries, and was 



ness » as impenetrable to adamantine spar, or corundum, as the 



coating of the sculptured head. 



and capable of fj ie p : ieces came out of the crucible of a dull white, as I 

 a fine polish. \ , . T ' '■ .. , ' ; . '■.■ 



expected; but some parts, winch 1 had polished m the same 



manner as hard stones, showed them to be capable of as good 



a polish as the head found at Ternes. 



The artist Jt cannot be denied, that such a complete imitation favours 



might have , .. . .•'..-. ir> T - 



employed this tne opinion or the coating having been a,- work oi art. It is 



process, no t necessary for this to suppose, that the chemical affinities, 



though igno- , . , , , ..... , 



raat of its which lea to this imitation, Avere known to the artist who* 



theory. executed the antique : for it would n®t be the first process 



found out by loose trials, and practised with success for cen- 

 turies before the true theory was discovered. 

 This opinion This opinion however has not obtained general assent. 

 still questioned Those who contest [ t re j y c hi e fly on the resemblance of the 

 with a Dead coat i n g' °f several flints found in the environs of Ternes, spe- 

 similar coat, cimens of which were shown to the class by Mr. Chaptal ; 

 and which in fact exhibited on some of their faces parts of 

 an enamel, if not equally uniform in tint and in thickness, 

 at least as glossy. 

 Still apparent- Others have thought with Mr. Fourcroy, that, whether 



ly polished at ^g CO atine of the sculptured head were formed in the earth, 

 least by art. . , „ . * T. . , 1 : 



in the same manner as the crusts ot these flints, or added by 



an artificial process after it came out of the sculptor's hand, 

 it must be admitted to have received its polish from art; 

 and that this was the only way of reconciling the inferences 

 we are obliged to deduce from its present state. 



Under these circumstances, the committee can only pro- 

 pose to the class to suspend its judgment, and to leave the 

 subject open to farther inquiry and discussion, for the solu- 

 tion of a question interesting to the history of the arts, and 

 to the sciences of the antiquary and the naturalist. 



XI. 



