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for heightening the colour of the metal to a resemblancewith that of gold, and for preserving it from being tar-nished or corroded by the air.

Addition to the History of GOLD.

S INCE the foregoing sheets went to the press, anew manufacture has been set on foot in London,for embellishing linen with flowers and other ornamentsof gold leaf. The linen looks whiter than most of theprinted linens; the gold is extremely beautiful, and issaid to bear washing well. I have seen a piece, which Iwas credibly informed had been washed three or fourtimes, with only the fame precautions as are used for thefiner printed linens, and on which the gold continuedentire and of great beauty.

The Venetians have carried on a large trade, to theLevant, in a kind of brocade called damasquete , which,though it has only about half the quantity of gold orsilver as that made among us, looks far more beautiful.The flatted wire is neither wound close together on thesilk threads, nor the threads struck close in the weaving ;yet, by passing the stuff betwixt rolls, the disposition andmanagement of which is kept a secret, the tissue or floweris made to appear one entire brilliant plate of gold orsilver. The French ministry, ever vigilant for the ad-vancement of arts and commerce, judged this manufac-ture important enough to deserve their attention ; andaccordingly, for contriving the machinery, they engagedthe ingenious M. Vaucanson, known throughout Europe

for