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The Cltinefe make another Kind of Porcelain, which they
paint and bake twice; and for this fecond Baking they
have a kind of little Ovens on purpofe. When very fmiall,
they are made of Iron; oth erwile, of a kind of Bricks an
Inch thick, a Foot high, and half a Foot broad; made of
the fame Earth with the Porcelain Cafes. The biggeft of
thefe Furnaces does not exceed five Foot in Height, and
three in Diameter; and being made tmuch in form of Bee-
Hives, the Bricks are arch'd a little, to form the Curvity
the better. The Hearth is of Earth half a Foot high,
form'd of two or three Ranges of Bricks; and on this Maf-
five is the Furnace built. Around the Furnace, at the
diflance of about half a Foot, is rais'd a Shell of common
Bricks, join'd to the Furnace itfelf, by a kind of Arcbou-
tant of Earth, which ferve to firengthen it. They ufual-
ly build four or five of thefe Furnaces at equal Diflances
from each other. At the bottom of the Shell are Holes
to give Air to the Fire when lighted: A-top is an Aper-
ture, which they cover up with a piece of the baked Earth,
when the Porcelains are laid in the Furnace.
The Porcelains, here, are not inclos'd in Coffins, as in
the common Furnaces; the Furnace, itfelf, ferving that
purpofe; and being fo exaflly clos'd, that they receive no
other Impreffion of the Fire, but that of the Heat of the
Charcoal difpos'd in the Hearth, at the bottom of the Fur-
nace, as well as a-top of the Vault, and in the Interval
between the Furnace and the Shell, or Brick-Wall.
To prepare the Porcelains for a fecond Baking, they
muft have had their Varnilh in the common manner, and
have pafs'd the great Furnace: In this State they are
painted with various Colours, after which, without gi-
ving them any new Varnifh, they are rang'd in Piles in the
little Furnace; fetting the little ones over the larger, in
form of Pyramids.
This fecond Baking is fometimes intended to preferve
the Lufire of the Colours the better, and at Ithe fame time
to give them a kind of Relievo. But more ufually, its
Defign is to hide defeaive Places, by covering them over
with Colours: But the Artifice is eaifly found out, by paf-
fing the Hand over them.
When the Workman judges his Porcelains enough baked,
he takes off the Piece that covers the Aperture; and if the
Works appear glittering, and the Colours glowing, he takes
out the Charcoal; and when the Furnace is cold, the Por-
eelain too.
How beautiful foever the modern Porcelain may be;
the Taefl for Antiquity, which reigns in China, as well as in
Europe, gives the antient Porcelain a Value far above that
of the modern - It muft be own'd, the Antient feems
finer as to the Matter, more perfed as to the Baking, and
of a more pleafant Cafi, both as to the White of the
Ground, and the other Colours; yet 'tis certain the moft
able and difcerning may be deceiv'd herein: And there
are Workmen who make it their bufinefs to counterfeit the
antient Porcelain, call'd Koutom, in the modern.
The Matter of thefe falfe Koutoms is a yellowish Earth,
found near Kimtetchim: There is nothing particular in the
firfi part of the Procefs, except that they are made thicker,
and that they are varnifh'd with an Oil drawn from the
yellow Stone, mix'd with the common Oil, which gives
them a kind of Sea-green Hue. When taken out of the
Furnace, they throw it into a fatty Broth, made of Capons,
Cc. in which they boil it a fecond time; they then bury
it in the filthiefl Sink they can find for a Month or fix
Weeks, or more, according as they would give it the grea-
ter appearance of Antiquity. Befides their Thicknefs and
their Colour, thefe falfe Antiques refemble the true ones
in this; that they do not refound when firuck, nor even
give the leaf buz, when held to the Ear.
Notwithfianding the vaft Quantity of Porcelains made in
almoft all the Provinces of the Empire of China; they
fill continue very dear; tho' not near fo dear, as antiently.
The Chinefe Annals tell us of Times wherein a fingle Urn
coll ninety or an hundred Crowns on the fpot. What chief-
ly occafions the extraordinary Price of this Commodity,
efpecially in Europe, is, befide the great Profits of the
Merchants in Europe, and their Faaors in China; that it
rarely happens a Furnace fucceeds throughout; that it is
frequently quite fpoilt, fo that upon opening it, in lieu of
fine Porcelains, is found a hard unform'd Mafs, into which
both the Porcelains, and their Coffins, are converted either
by Excefs of Heat, or fome ill Qualities in the Matter.
Another reafon of the Dearnefs of Porcelain, is, that the
Ingredients it is made of, and the Wood wherewith it is
burnt, grow more and more fcarce: One may add a
third reafon for the exceffive Price of Porcelains to the
Europeans; and 'tis this, that moft of thofe Cent to Europe
are form'd on new Models, frequently very odd, and dif-
ficult to fucceed in; which, yet, for the fmallefl Defeas,
are turn'd on the Manufaciurer's hands: and he not being
able to difpofe of them to the Chinefe, becaufe not to their


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Taife, nor for their tJfe,- is forc'd to charge the PI
he delivers, the higher, to pay himfelf for thofe re
The Frenck have bee thefe fifteen Years attien
imitate Portelain: The firfl Eftays made it Rot
faid to have Succeeded tolerably well; and M
tells is, are now carry'd to fuch a point in the 1S
turies of P1afj, and S. Cloud, that the French Pc
want nothing to make them of equal Value M


Choinefe, but to be brought five or fix thoufand Le
In effea, for the Finenefs of the Grain of the Matte
Beauty and Form of the Veffels, the Exaftitnde c
Defign, and the Lufire of the Colours, at leaft the I
the French are not much behind the Ckineft. Bul
grand Defea is in the White of the Ground, whict
fual ly dingyand dull; and eafily diflinguilhes itfelf
I I- T 17L~ -.P tr_ -


the pure Jprighty whnice or the Qvinnege.
PORCELAINw is alfo a kind of little white Sea-
found along with the Sponges; and current in feveral
of Afta, Africa; and America, by way of Money.
Co I N.
Authors have hitherto been of opinion, that thefe S
were the Matter whereof the Porcelain, or China-Wart
made. They are of Come ufe in Medicine, and are
fcribed pounded or broken, in manner of Pearls.
PEARL.


PORCH, a kind of Veffible fupported by Columns;
much ufed at the Entrance of the antient Churches, Tem-
ples, 01c. See VESTIBLE.
In the antient Architecture, Porch was a Veflible, or a
Difpofition of infulated Columns, ufually crown'd with a
Pediment, forming a Covert Place before the principal Door
of a Temple or Palace.
When it had four Columns in Front, it was call'd a re;
trajfyle; when fix, ExaJfyle X when eight, Ot7oftyle; when
ten, Decajyle, Fc.
Vitruvius calls it Pronaos and Prodomos. When it has
Iron Gates, it is call'd Propyleum.
PORE, a little Interftice, between the Particles of Mat-
ter which conflitute Bodies; either empty, or fill'd with
foine infenfible Medium. See BODY and MATTER.
Condenfation, and Rarefaaion, are only perform'd by
clofing and opening the Pores. See RAREFACTION and
CONDENSATION.
The Tranfparency of Bodies is ufually fuppos'd to arifo
from their Pores being direcly oppofite to one another.
See TRANSPARENCY.
The Matter of infenfible Perfpiration is convey'd throw
the Pores of the Cutis. See PERSPIRATION.
The Word Pore is form'd from the Greek trof@, Aper-
ture, or EDu6I, thro' which a Thing paffes.
Sir Jfaac Newton flews, that Bodies are much more rare,
and porous, than is commonly believ'd: Water, e. gr. is
I9 times lighter, and consequently rarer than Gold i and
Gold itfelf is fo rare, as very readily, and without the
leafi oppofition, to tranfmit Magnetic Effluvia, and ea-
fily to admit Quickfilver into its Pores, and to let Water
pafs thro' it: for a concave Sphere of Gold bath, when
fill'd with Waters and folder'd up, upon prefing with a
great Force, let the Water fqueeze thro' it, and fland all
over its outfide, in multitudes of fmall Drops like Dew,
without burfling or cracking the Gold: whence it may be
concluded, that Gold hath more Pores than folid Parts;
and by consequence that Water hath above forty times
more Pores than Parts. See GOLD.
The Magnet tranfmits its Virtues without any Diminution
or Alteration, thro' all cold Bodies that are not magnetic;
as Gold, Silver, Brafs, Glafs, Water, Fe$c. See MAG-
NET.
The Rays of Light, let them be either Bodies aSually
coming to us from the Sun, or only Motions or Impreffions
upon the Medium, move in right Lines, and are hardly e-
vyr, unlefs by great chance, refleted back again in the
fame right Line, after their Impingence upon Objeas 5
and yet we fee that Light is tranfmitted to thegreateft
Difances thro' pellucid Bodies, and that in right Lines.
See RAY, SC.
Now how Bodies fhould have Pores fufficient for thefe
Effe&s, may be difficult to conceive, but not impoffible:
For Sielfaac lhews, that the Colours of all Bodies arife
from their Particles being of fuch a determinate Size or
Magnitude. Wherefore, if we conceive thofe Particles to
be fo difpos'd, as that there is as much Porojity, as there is
of Matter; and in like manner thofe Particles to be corn-
pos'd of others much lefs, and that have as much in-;
terfpers'd Vacuity or Space, as their Quantity of Matter
amounts to; and fo on, till we come to folid Particles with-
out Pores: then, if in any Body there be (for inflance)
three of thefe Sizes of Particles, and that the laft be of
the folid, or lead fort; that Body will have feven times as
much Vacuity as folid Matter. If four fuch Degrees, and
the laft be leafli and folid, that Body will have fifteen
times


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