As to the composition of the ‘purslayne’ brought from the Indies, the wildest stories were current. Whether it was even of the same nature as other kinds of pottery was disputed. Even so well-informed a man as Sir Thomas Browne had his doubts. ‘We are not thoroughly resolved,’ he says, ‘concerning porcellane or china dishes, that according to common belief they are made of earth.’ The quaint story of the clay being preserved for long ages before it was fit for use, we find for the first time apparently in some of the late versions of Marco Polo’s travels. From Marryat, who collected a wealth of quotations[139] referring to porcelain from writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, we take as an example the following (it is from a book written by Guido Pancirolli, a learned jurisconsult and antiquary of Padua, who died in 1599):--‘In former ages, porcelains were never seen. Now they are a certain mass composed of gypsum, bruised eggs, the shell of the marine locust [perhaps the _Langusta_ or Mediterranean lobster], and other substances; and this, being well tempered and thickened, is hidden underground in a secret place, which the father points out to his children, etc.’ He then goes on to speak of the transparency of this ware, and of its property of breaking when any poisonous substance was placed in it. We must remember that by this time attempts had already been made in Italy, both in Tuscany and probably still earlier in Venice, to imitate the porcelain of China. These experiments were soon abandoned, but the more practical Dutch, not long after this time, succeeded in making with their enamelled earthenware an imitation of the finer Chinese blue and white, closer to the original, as far as external aspect is concerned, than anything that has been produced in Europe since that time in ware of any description. The name of Albregt de Keizer (_circa_ 1661) it would seem is to be associated with these excellent copies. There are some brilliant specimens of this seventeenth century delft at South Kensington, both in the Keramic Gallery and in the Salting collection. Early in the reign of Charles II., the fashion of drinking tea and chocolate became fashionable, if not general, in England. Coffee had been introduced somewhat earlier--it came from Turkey by way of Venice. Along with these new infusions came the demand for the little cups from which they were to be drunk, and for the pots in which to brew them. The form and fashion of these came to us not from China but from Venice, from Constantinople, and perhaps ultimately from Persia. One consequence of this was that the confusion between the wares of the East and of the Far East became for the time even greater. In the drinking-song quoted on page 243, we find ‘tea-cups and coffee’ associated with ‘the Turk and the Sophi,’ while not a word is said of China.