something veined or clouded, resembling marble. See MARBLING.

Marbled China-ware, a name given by many to a species of porcelain or china-ware, which seems to be full of cemented flaws. It is called by the Chinese, who are very fond of it, you tchi. It is generally plain white, sometimes blue, and has exactly the appearance of a piece of china which had been first broken, and then had all the pieces cemented in their places again, and covered with the original varnish. The manner of preparing it is easy, and might be imitated with us. Instead of the common varnish of the china-ware, which is made of what they call oil of stone and oil of fern mixed together, they cover this with a simple thing made only of a sort of coarse agates, calcined to a white powder, and separated from the groser parts by means of water, after long grinding in mortars. When the powder has been thus prepared, it is left moist, or in form of a sort of cream, with the last water that is suffered to remain in it, and this is used as the varnish. Our crystal would serve full as well as those coarse agates, and the method of preparation is perfectly easy. The occasion of the singular appearance of this sort of porcelain is, that the varnish never spreads evenly, but runs into ridges and veins. These often run naturally into a sort of mosaic work which can scarcely be taken for the effect of chance. If the marbled china be desired blue, they first give it a general coat of this colour, by dipping the vessel into a blue varnish; and when this is thoroughly dry, they add another coat of this agate oil.

Playing Marbles, are mostly imported from Holland; where it is said they are made by breaking the stone alabaster, or other substance, into pieces or chips, of a suitable size; these are put into an iron mill which turns by water: there are several partitions with raps within, cut float-wise, not with teeth, which turn constantly round with great swiftness; the friction against the raps makes them round, and as they are formed, they fall out of different holes, into which size or chance throws them. They are brought from Nuremberg to Rotterdam, down the Rhine, and from thence dispersed over Europe.