in Natural History, the name of an earth found in many parts of the East Indies, and sometimes used by the Chinese in their porcelain manufactures. It is a hard and stony earth; and the manner of using it is this: they first calcine it in an open furnace, and then beat it to a fine powder. This powder they mix with large quantities of water; then stirring the whole together, they let the coarser part subside; and pouring off the rest yet thick as cream, they leave it to settle, and use the matter which is found at the bottom in form of a soft paste, and will retain that humidity a long time. This supplies the place of the earth called hoache, in the making of that elegant sort of china-ware which is all white, and has flowers which seem formed by a mere vapour within its surface. The manner of their using it is this: they first make the vessel of the common matter of the manufacture; when this is almost dry, they paint upon it the flowers, or whatever other figures they please, with a pencil dipped in this preparation of the chekao; when this is thoroughly dry, they cover the whole vessel with the varnish in the common way, and bake it as usual. The consequence is, that the whole is white; but the body of the vessel, the figures, and the varnish, being three different substances, each has its own particular white; and the flowers being painted in the finest white of all, are distinctly seen through the varnish upon the vessel, and seem as if traced by a vapour only. The hoache does this as well as the chekao; and has besides this the quality of serving for making the porcelain ware either alone, or in the place of kaolin: the chekao has not this property, nor any other substance besides this hoache, which appears to be the same with our steatites or soap-rock.