292 CLAYS AND CLAY INDUSTRY. 



tively simple, but for the manufacture of white earthenware or 

 porcelain, the successful completion of the product calls for skill, 

 intelligence and good materials. 



There was a time when white-ware mixtures and glazes of the 

 proper quality could be obtained only after long and tedious ex- 

 perimenting and the expenditure of much time and money. The 

 day of this, however, cannot be said to be altogether past, for 

 many potters are still groping in the dark. Modern ceramic 

 technology, however, has worked wonders, and a knowledge of 

 it proves invaluable to the progressive potter in aiding him to 

 work out the proper combinations of body and glaze. It enables 

 him to adjust them if they do> not agree, or to find out in a com- 

 paratively short time where the trouble lies when failures occur. 



To' take advantage of the facts and principles of ceramic tech- 

 nology does not require a very profound knowledge of chemistry, 

 and the potter who seeks and grasps them' will advance rapidly, 

 while, on the other hand, he who rejects them and carefully 

 guards some elementary facts, as imaginary secrets of great 

 value, does himself a positive injury. Freedom of discussion has 

 proven an invaluable aid in other technical branches, and there is 

 no' apparent reason why it should not do the same for the pottery 

 industry. The subject of ceramic technology in America has 

 been behind that of Europe for many years, although it is now 

 coming forward with rapid strides. The annual meetings of the 

 American Ceramic Society form a centre where clay workers 

 can gather, and both give and receive information without the 

 necessity of disclosing any business secrets. Indeed, so success- 

 ful have these meetings become that the printed transactions of 

 the society form a most valuable series of works dealing in a 

 technical and scientific way with clays and clay products. 



In addition to this, ceramic schools have been established in 

 several States, New Jersey among them, and provision thereby 

 made for instruction in modern ceramic technology and investi- 

 gation of allied subjects. The following statement regarding the 

 Department of Ceramics at the State College, New Brunswick 

 (PI. XXXV), has been kindly prepared by Prof. C. W. Parmelee, 

 head of the department. 



