In China an oil is procured from the seeds of vernicia montana, which, by the addition of alum, litharge, and steatite, with a gentle heat, easily forms a valuable varnish which, when mixed with resin, is employed in rendering the bottoms of vessels watertight.

Then a disk of steatite affixed to an insulating handle is rubbed for a few instants with a fox's "brush," and held near J until a spark occurs.

These urns are made of baked clay, and are shaped somewhat like the ordinary steatite ollas found in the California coast graves, but the bottoms instead of being round run down to a sharp apex; on the top was a cover, the upper part of which also terminated in an apex, and around the border, near where it rested on the edge of the vessel, are indented scroll ornamentations.