lled
flux is laid upon the surface of the enamel, and the plate
undergoes the action of heat for a third time. It is now ready for
the painter to commence his picture upon."

Leonard Limousin painted from 1532 until 1574. He used the process
as described by William of Essex (which afterwards became very
popular for miniaturists), and also composed veritable pictures
of his own design. It is out of our province to trace the history
of the Limoges enamellers after this period.

CHAPTER IV

OTHER METALS

The "perils that environ men that meddle with cold iron" are many;
but those who attempt to control hot iron are also to be respected,
when they achieve an artistic result with this unsympathetic metal,
which by nature is entirely lacking in charm, in colour and texture,
and depends more upon a proper application of design than any other,
in order to overcome the obstacles to beauty with which it is beset.

"Rust hath corrupted," unfortunately, many interesting antiquities
in iron, so that only a limited number of specimens of this metal
have come down to us from very early times; one of the earliest
in England is a grave-stone of cast metal, of the date 1350: it
is decorated with a cross, and has the epitaph, "Pray for the soul
of Joan Collins."

The process of casting iron was as follows. The moulds were made
of a sandy substance, composed of a mixture of brick dust, loam,
plaster, and charcoal. A bed of this sand was made, and into it
was pressed a wooden or metal pattern. When this was removed, the
imprint remained in the sand. Liquid metal was run into the mould
so formed, and would cool into the desired shape. As with a
plaster cast, it was necessary to employ two such beds, the sand
being firmly held in boxes, if the object was to be rounded, and
then the two halves thus made were put together. Flat objects,
such as fire-backs, could be run into a single mould.

Bartholomew, in his book "On the Properties of Things," makes certain
statements about iron which are interesting: "Though iron cometh of
the earth, yet it is most hard and sad, and therefore with beating
and smiting it suppresseth and dilateth all other metal, and maketh
it stretch on length and on breadth." This is the key-note to the
work of a blacksmith: it is what he has done from the first, and
is still doing.

In Spain there have been iron mines ever since the days when Pliny
wrote and alluded to them, but there are few samples in th