Monochrome decorations can also be produced, by the use of natural clays of various colors, in the same manner as that pursued in the use of the artificially tinted clay of which we have been treating. Good effects can be produced in this way, with the advantage that the colors will be fully retained in the firing. Red, or brown and white, in various degrees of combination, can be used to produce a design with every effect of light and shade. Also, red, with cream-tinted clay, or the three colors—red, yellow and white—can be used together. These designs can be produced upon grounds of cream, red, or yellow clay. DRYING. When the painting has been completed, it should dry very slowly, and it would be better, if possible, to effect this by placing it in a moist, cool place. It is, however, difficult to handle a piece of ware when wet. The clay is in a very soft state, and a sudden jar might cause the vase to fall to pieces. If the vase has not been in proper condition for painting, or has dried too quickly, it will, after some hours have elapsed, begin to show fine cracks upon the surface of the painting. These may be stopped, before they have gone too far, by passing a modeling tool over them, or, if the crack has become too deep for this treatment, it may be filled with clay as nearly as possible in the state at which the body of the ware has arrived. If the cracks are allowed to go too far it will be difficult to stop them, as they may have extended into the body of the ware. If the piece is permitted to go to the firing with any cracks, however small upon its surface, they will become widened in the firing, and, especially after the glazing, will show very distinctly. In the biscuit, they may be stopped by filling them with powdered clay mixed with gum water. But an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and the safest method is to prevent their appearance in the first place. If this can not be done, they must be stopped as soon as they appear. The finer clays seem to have a greater tendency to crack in drying, and when the cracks have appeared, they are more difficult to stop than in other clays. FIRING. When the piece decorated is thoroughly dry, it should be fired at a temperature sufficient to make the body durable, and at the same time to perfectly fix the colors of the painting, so that there may be no danger that the glaze will cause them to run in the final firing. This latter defect may also result from an excess of glaze, and where it exists only in a very slight degree, produces a melting softness which is very pleasing. This effect is, however, so likely to be exaggerated to the ruin of the work that it is best not to run any risk of the kind in firing, and to depend upon the painting alone for the harmonious blending of the tints.