Mi 
in Porcelain Painting . 
susceptible of a beautiful polish not subject to be injured 
by the prejudicial influence of the atmosphere and of 
moisture. At first, however, the employment of platina 
was not extended further until the experiments made 
known by Morveau, Sage, and other chemists, and after- 
wards prosecuted on a larger scale by count Yon Sickin- 
gen, formed as it were an epoch in the history of this me- 
tal, and showed in what manner platina might be freed 
from its foreign particles, be welded, hammered, and 
drawn out into wire, so as to be applicable to a variety of 
purposes. 
It was, however, not yet possible to employ it in cases 
which required an actual fusion for the purpose of cast- 
ing it; because this metal, in its purified state, was al- 
ways by itself infusible in a common furnace. It was 
therefore a discovery of great importance to find that pla- 
tina may be rendered fusible by arsenic; and that when 
mixed with this substance it may be cast in moulds, while 
the volatile metal employed as a flux may be again driven 
off by heat, so that the cast platina may then be ham- 
mered like any other metaL By employing this method, 
first made known by my worthy colleague M. Achard, 
vessels and articles of various kinds are made of platina, 
and particularly at Paris. 
Bergman, however, had shown that platina which 
could be reduced to a state of fusion only by employing 
a large burning mirror, might be fused also by means of 
oxygen gas. In this manner M. Pelletier, by means of 
phosphoric glass, made from bones, combined with char- 
coal powder, brought large masses of platina to a state of 
complete fusion. 
How far platina might be employed in porcelain paint- 
ing has never yet, as far as I know, been examined : I 
therefore thought it of considerable importance to make 
some experiments on this subject, which, did not deceive- 
Vol. ii. 3 i 
