530 THEOKY OF ARCHITECTUEE. Book II.

pressed spaces only Leing filled with tlie coloured matter. A luyer of clay is also applied
to the back; and is Bonietimes pierced with holes to prevent the bending of the tiles iu the
process of baking.
1839t'. The I'lsscra are manufactured bj' a similar process. In Lambeth, clay being
properly prepared and stained of the desired colour, as black, red, blue, &c., is made into
long narrow ribbons, by means of a squeezing machine. These ribbons are cut into squares,
which are placed one on another, 15 or 20 high, previously oiled to prevent adhesion.
These piles are then placed upon a frame sliding in two perpendicular grooves, ftith fine
bteel wires stretched tightly across, so that by pressing the frame downwards the wires
subdivide the slices into the square, oblong, triangular, or other shaped te.sserfe required;
tiiese are then dried and baked in the ordinary Avay. Messrs, Minton manufacture their
tesserae by pressure as for making tiles.
1 839<f. The mode of forming tesserae into moscdc paving slabs is as follows
:
The tesserae
are laid face downwards on a perfe.'tly Hat slate, iu the pattern or design required. The
size and shape of the slab is given by strips of wood or slate fastened round the tesseiae.
Portland cement is poured on the backs of tlie tesserae, and two layers of common red tiles
are added in cement ; thus forming a fiat and strong slab, which is fitted for laying down as
jiavement. (Hunt, Har.dhook, 1851.) The better tilo, and the larger tesser;e for pavements,
are laid separately on a carefully prepared foundation of fine concrete, and then set in fine
sand. The durability of a tesselated pavement consists greatly in the solidity of th-^ fuuiida-
lion given to it. With a fioor subjected to vibratiotis such a work will go to pieces. The
encaustic tiles with raised patterns should only be used as wall liniLgs, as at Grauada, and
never for pavements, as is sometimes dune.
1839c. Stonew^aee is a dense and highly vitrified material, impervious to the action of
acids, and of peculiar strength. Until ab lut 1836, when the duty was taken off, this
material was chiefly used for common spirit bottles, oil jars, &c. The clay used is found
near the coast in Devonshire and Dorsetshire. It is dug in square lumps of about 40 lbs.
each, and transported in ships to London. After being perft-ctly dried it is ground to a
powder, mixed with water, and, after being allowed to become of uniform consistency, ihe
mass is passed through pug mills, and taken to the workmen. For making large articles,
portions of the burnt material, finely ground, are mixed with the new clay
;
also some white
sand found in the neighbourhood of Woolwich and Eeigate.
1839/". Almost all round articles are formed by the potter, on wheels turning with the
required rapidity. The potter's wheel was known in Egypt some "2,500 years B.C., and it
remains practically the same. It was worked by hand; then by the feet, keeping a steadier
constant motion
;
hirger articles causetl the disc to be attached to a large flywheel, worked
by au assistant, who was directed by the potter; lastly came the addition of steam and
the conical drum, enabling the potter to reguhite the speed required. For articles of
other shapes, the composition iu a soft and plastic state is laid in plaster of Paris
mo'ilJs ; the porous plaster gradually absorbs the moisture from the clay, and when
suflficiently firm it is removed. Sumo thousand articles are frequently made from one
inoidd before it is destroyed. When thoroughly dry, the ware is placed in ovens ur
kibis, and exposed to a gradually increasing heat, so intense as to become, before finishing,
quite white; salt is then thrown in, and, being decomposed, the fumes act chemically on
the surface of the ware, and fuse the particles together, giving the glaze so well known.
IStonewarc differs from all other kinds of cflazcd earthenware in this important respect,
that the c/ lac
hiff
is the actual material itself fustd togeiher; in ether kinds of ware it is
a composition in which the article is dipped while in what the potters cull the biscuit, or
hdlf-burnt, state. (Hunt, Handbook, 1851.)
TERRA-COTTA.
1839^. Terra-cotta, that is, burnt earth, embraces every kind of pottery, but the term
has now come to be applied exclusively to that class of ware used in building, and is
more or less ornamental and of a Irgher class than the ordinai-y, or even the better make
of bricks, demanding more care in the choice and manipulation of the clay, and much
harder firing, hence it is more durable. The best terra-cotta is a species of stoneware,
which doe' not after years of use show signs of decay from contact with acids and alkalies.
1839/i. Terra-cotta, like stone, may be good, bad, or indifferent in quality, but good
terra-cotta will hold its own against good stone as a sound building material. Dad terra-
cotta is that Avhich is imperfectly burnt, and when it is
"
slack burnt," as it is termed, the
material will go back to clay again. Flower-pots are common terra-cotta, and often throw
off a scale of red earth each time the plant is watered. A well burnt sto.k brick is also
terra-cotta ; and where is the ordinary stone which is equally durable with il ?
Good
terra-cotta is easily t. sted
;
when struck wiih steel it should emit sparks and merely
show a black line, and ring like a bell. It should be free from fire cracks, have true lines,