"A boy whirled it round for the man, you know, mamma, while he went on moulding the clay upon it into a bowl, and he called to the boy to make it go slower or faster. But in this potter's-wheel no boy to whirl the board is wanting, for it is turned by a shaft."

"And that shaft is turned by a steam engine," said Harry. "The steam engine, mother, at work again; observe, mother." "Yes," said Lucy, "papa called it the great servant of all work."

"But there was an improvement in this potter's-wheel, which you have not told yet, Lucy," said Harry.

"No, no, but I am coming to it, let me tell it," said Lucy.

"If you understand it," whispered Harry, in a very kind tone, as he was only afraid for her, not anxious to show what he knew.

"I understand one thing about it, and that is all I want to tell, my dear," said Lucy. "There was a sort of large roller, in the

cone,

shape of a cone, mamma, opposite to the potter's-wheel, and a strap or band round it, that could slide or be pushed up and down upon this from the narrowest part to the thickest. Harry took notice of this the moment he saw it, and asked the use of it. Papa bid him find out, and he did, mamma. It was to make the wheel go slower or quicker, whenever the man who was moulding the clay desired that it should. This was necessary, because the steam-engine, which keeps the potter'swheel in motion, goes on always at its own regular rate, and would never mind his calling out, faster!' 'slower!" slower!' 'faster!' Therefore he must have some way of slackening or quickening the wheel, without interfering with the steam engine. This is done for him by a boy's simply shifting that strap I described to you higher or lower, to the thicker or thinner part of the cone. This was the use, mamma, of the cone and band, and Harry found it out."

"I am glad you remember this, my dear Lucy," said her mother.

"Thank you," said Harry's eyes,

Lucy went on with raised spirits, 'Mamma, I wish you had seen the man moulding the clay, and all the metamor-phoses of the potter's-wheel. First, in one minute, the lump of clay turned into a bowl; then the instant after, he squeezed this soft bowl up in his hand, dashed it on the wheel, and again he turned, and moulded, and in an instant it was a plate! In another instant the plate was gone, and in its stead a cup stood before us!"

"A cup without a handle," said Harry. "The handle, if wanted, must be made separately, and stuck on afterwards. Only certain shaped things, round or flat, are made on the potter's-wheel. Those which have ins and outs in their shapes are made in moulds, into which the moist clay is squeezed; sometimes two parts of a thing, the spout of a tea-pot, for instance, are

made in separate moulds, and the halves joined together afterwards. But I dare say, mother, you know all this."

"I knew most of this myself before," continued Lucy, "from the prints and descriptions in our dear book of trades, and from some others of our little and large books. But I liked to see the real work going on, and the real things. There was always some difference between the description and the reality, or something that I fancied larger or smaller than it is, or some little particular circumstance which I did not comprehend till I saw it. Mamma, I did not tell you, that we saw the furnaces and kilns, for baking-firing the porcelain, as they call it. These were much larger than I expected. When the porcelain has been once baked, it is called biscuit, in which state it is ready for painting. Mamma, I have not told you how much I was entertained in the painting room, by seeing how dull the colours look when they are first laid on, and how bright and brilliant they are after they have been fired

what was to be gold, was quite dark beforehand."

"Pray, Lucy," said Harry, "did you observe a man, who was standing beside one of the furnaces, whose business seemed to be to regulate the heat? He had some little bits of clay, which looked like little stoppers, and he put these into the fire and measured them, did you see how?"

"No; I saw the man," said Lucy; "but I did not know what he was doing. Well, mamma, there is one other thing I remember, and that is all. You know the common kind of blue and white cups and saucers, and plates, with windmills, and houses, and strange Chinese looking figures, and all manner of things upon them?"

"I do know luckily what you mean," said her mother, laughing, "otherwise I am not sure that I should know it from your description."

"Mamma, these were formerly painted, one at a time, by hand, but now there is a much quicker way; Mr. Frankland showed it to me. First, the patterns, whatever