A S3 
FOR 
down a large tree of this sort, was assured by 
his carpenter that the wood wds very good, 
'[’hat tlie tacamahaca is a dwarfish plant of 
little value. That the hard, populus Cana- 
densis, is a large tree, the wood light, not 
easy to be split, and lit for several uses. That 
the" white poplar, is a large-growing tree, 
affording a wood of excellent quality, and 
is amoim the mo^t valuable of this species. 
That the trembling poplar is neither so large 
a tree, nor affords such good wood, as the 
former. These are in few words the principal 
results of the experiments of this gentleman 
on this class of plants. A few other sorts 
are mentioned, but nothing decisive with re- 
gard to them is determined. 
From some experiments made by M. 
Dambourney, it appears that the poplar may 
be usefully employed in dyeing. The Ita- 
lian or Lombardy poplar gives a dye of as 
fine a lustre, and equally durable, as that ot 
the linest veliow wood, and its colour K more 
easily extracted. It is likewise very apt to 
unite with other colours in composition. 
Besides this, M. Dambourney tried also the 
black poplar, the V irginian, the balsam or 
liard, the white, and the trembling poplar; 
and found that all these dyed wool of a nut- 
colour, fawn-colour (vigogne), Nankin, 
musk, and other grave shades, according to 
the quantity of wood employed, and the 
length of time it was boiled. 
PORANA, a genus of the monogynia 
order, in the pentandria class ot plants. 1 he 
corolla is cainpanulated ; the calyx is quin- 
quefid, and larger than the fruit ; the style 
semibitid, long, and permanent; the stig- 
mata globular; the perianthium bivalved. 
There is one species, a shrub of the East 
Indies. 
PORCELAIN, a fine kind of earthen- 
ware, chiefly manufactured in China, and 
thence called China-ware. All earthenwares 
winch are white and semitransparent, are ge- 
nerally called porcelain ; but amongst these 
so great differences may be observed, that, 
notwithstanding the similarity of their exter- 
nal appearance, they cannot be considered as 
matters of the same kind, t iiese differences 
are so evident, that even persons who are 
not connoisseurs in this way preier niuco tne 
porcelain of some countries to that ot others. 
The word porcelain is of European deri- 
vation ; none of the syllables winch compose 
it can even be pronounced or written by the 
Chinese, whose language comprehends no 
such sounds. It is probable that we aie in- 
debted to the Portuguese for it; the word 
porcellana, however, in their language, signi- 
fies properly a cup or dish ; and they them- 
selves distinguish all works of porcelain by 
the general name of loca. Porcelain is called 
in China tse-ki. 
The art of making porcelain is one of those 
in which Europe has been excelled by the Ori- 
ental nations. The first porcelain that was 
sf*cn in iirfUropf? \v<is li ou^tit fiom Jdoup cind 
China. The whiteness, transparency, fine- 
ness, neatness, and even magnificence of this 
pottery, which soon became the ornament 
of sumptuous tables, did not fail to excite the 
admiration and industry of Europeans ; and 
their attein its have succeeded so well, that 
in different parts of Europe earthenwares 
have been made so like the Oriental, that 
they have acquired the name of porcelain. 
V O R 
The first European porcelains were made in 
Saxony and in France ; and afterwards in 
England, Germany, and Italy; but as all 
these were different from the Japanese, so 
each of them had its peculiar character. 
The finest and best porcelain of China is 
marie in a village called King-te-tchuig, in 
the province of Kiang-si. 1 Ins celebrated 
village is a league and a half in length, and 
we are assured that it contains a million ot 
inhabitants. The workmen ot King-te-tching, 
invited by the attracting allurements of the 
European trade, have established maim ac- 
tories also in the provinces of Fo-kien and 
Canton; but this porcelain is not esteemed. 
We are indebted to father d’Entrecolles, 
a Romish missionary, for a very accurate 
account of the manner in which porcelain is 
made in China ; and as he lived in King-te- 
tching, his information must have been the 
very best possible. We shall therefore give 
his account of the Chinese manner of making 
it, as abridged by Grosier in his General De- 
scription of China. 'I he principal ingredi- 
ents of the fine porcelain are pe-tun-tse and 
kao-lin, two kinds of earth, from the mixture 
of which the paste is produced. The kao- 
lin is intermixed with small shining particles ; 
the other is purely white, and very fine to tne 
touch. These first materials are carried to 
the manufactories in the shape of bricks. 1 lie 
pe-tun-tse, which is so fine, is nothing else 
but fragments of rock taken from certain 
quarries, and reduced to powder. Eveiy 
kind of stone is not fit for this purpose. _ The 
colour of that which is good, say the Chinese, 
ought to incline a little towards green. A 
large iron club is used for breaking these 
pieces of rock: they are afterwards put into 
mortars ; and, by means of levers headed 
with stone bound round with iron, they are 
reduced to a very line powder. These le- 
vers are put in action either by the labour of 
men, or by water, in the same manner as the 
hammers of our paper-mills. The dust after- 
wards collected is thrown into a large vessel 
full of water, which is strongly stirred with 
an iron shovel. When it lias been left to 
settle for some time, a kind of cream rises on 
tiie top, about four inches in thickness, which 
is skimmed off, and poured into another ves- 
sel filled with water; the water in the first 
vessel is stirred several times ; and the cream 
which arises is still collected, until nothing 
remains but the coarse dregs, which, by their 
own weight, precipitate to the bottom ; these 
dregs are carefully collected, and pounded 
anew. 
With regard to what is taken from the first 
vessel, it is suffered to remain in the second 
until it is formed into a kind ot crust at the 
bottom. When the water above it seems 
quite clear, it is poured off by gently inclin- 
ino the vessel, that the sediment may not be 
disturbed ; and the paste is thrown into large 
moulds proper for drying it. Before it is en- 
tirely hard, it is divided into small square 
cakes, which are soid by the hundred. The 
colour of this paste, and its form, have oc- 
casioned it to receive the name of pe-tun- 
tse. 
The kao-lin, which is used in the compo- 
sition of porcelain, requires less labour than 
the pe-tun-tse. Nature has a greater share 
in tlie preparation of it. 1 here are large 
mines of it in the bosoms ot certain moun- 
F O R 
tains, the exterior strata of which consist of 
a kind ot red earth. Ti.ese mines are very 
deep, and the kao-lin is found in small lumps, 
that are formed into bricks alter having gone 
through the same process as the pe-tun-tse. 
Father d’Entrecolles thinks, that the earth 
called terre de Malta, or Si. Paul’s earth, 
has much affinity to the kao-iin, although 
those small shining particle are not observ. cl 
in it which are interspersed in the latter. 
It is from the kao-lin that tine porcelain 
derives all* its strength; it we may be al- 
lowed the expression, it stands it m the stead 
of nerves. It is very extraordinary, that a 
soft earth should give strength and consist- 
ency to the pe-tun-tse, which is procured 
from ihe hardest rocks. A rich Ghinese 
merchant told father d’Entrecolles, that the 
English and Dutch had purchased some or 
the pe-tun-tse, which they transported to 
Europe with a design of making porcelain; 
but having carried with them none ot the 
kao-lin, their attempt proved abortive, as 
they have since acknowledged. “ i hcv 
wanted,” said this Chinese laughing, “ to 
form a body, the flesh ot which should sup- 
port itself without bones.” 
The Chinese have discovered, within these 
few years, a new substance proper to be em- 
ployed in the composition of porcelain. It 
is a stone, or rather species of chalk, called 
hoa-che, from which the physicians prepare 
a kind of draught that is said to be detersive, 
aperient, and cooling. The manufacturers 
of porcelain have thought proper to employ 
this stone instead of kao-lin. It is called hoa, 
because it is glutinous, and has a great re- 
semblance to soap. Porcelain made with 
hoa-che is very rare, and much clearer than 
any other. It has an exceedingly fine gram ; 
and with regard to the painting, if it is com- 
pared with that of the common porcelain, it 
appears to surpass it as much as vellum does 
paper. This porcelain is, besides, so light, 
that it surprises those who are accustomed 
to handle other kinds ; it is also much more 
brittle ; and it is very difficult to hit upon 
the proper degree of tempering it. 
Hoa-che is seldom used in forming the 
body of the work ; the artist is contented 
sometimes with making it into a very fine 
size, in which the vessel is plunged when dry, 
in order that it may receive a coat beiore 
it is painted and varnished ; by these means 
it acquires a superior degree oi beauty. 
When hoa-che is taken from the mine, it 
is washed in ram or river water, to separate 
it from a kind of veliow earth which adheres 
to it. It is then pounded, put into a tub 
filled with water to dissolve it, and afterwards 
formed into cakes like kao-lin. \\ e are as- 
sured that hoa-che, when prepared in this 
manner, without the mixture of any other 
earth, is alone sufficient to make porcelain. 
It serves instead of kao-lin; but it is much 
dearer. Kao-lin costs only ten-pence ster- 
ling ; the price of hoa-che is half-a-crov n ; 
this difference, therefore, greatly enhances, 
the value of porcelain made with lie latter. 
To pe-tun-tse and kao-l;n,dhe two princi- 
pal elements, must be adder! the oil or var- 
nish from which it derives its splendour and. 
whiteness. This oil is of a whitish colour,, 
and is extracted from the same kind of stone 
which produces the pe-tun-tse ; but the 
whitest is always chosen, and tuat' which has 
the greenest spots. The oil is obtained Irony 
