"No horse so swift that he needs not another
To keep up his speed."
There is no mechanical employment in this country yielding so good returns to the industrious as a good worker in glass, of the present day, can secure in the exercise of his skill. And we may still further say that there is no mechanical branch of industry offering such advantages for the full manifestation of a workman's real skill and industry, if the conventional usages which restrict the work could but be abrogated,—usages tending to a limited amount of work, and consequently making the workman to realize but a limited amount per week. Such workmen, of all others, should be allowed the inherent and inalienable right to work as long, and at such times, as the individual may deem for his comfort and interest.
We have expressed the opinion that the manufacture of glass is as yet but in its infancy. The experience of every day confirms the assertion, and illustrates the maxim that "life is short, art is long."
The time is not far distant when this country will become, we think, the largest exporter of glass, and the manufacture compose a most important item in every assorted export cargo. In this connection a hint to ship-owners may not be amiss. It is well known that in England, when a ship is put up for a foreign port, it is the custom to rate the freight according to the value of the merchandise,—dry goods paying the highest freight, hardware the next highest, earthen and glass ware the lowest. If our merchants would adopt this plan, very many of our bulky manufactures would find a market abroad; when, however, the same rate is required for a cask of glass ware as for a case of silks or prints, it taxes the latter a small percentage, but practically vetoes the export of the glass.
Our task is now ended; our object has been to give a simple and succinct outline of the characteristics and progress of the Glass Manufacture, to suggest such hints as might bear upon the further advance of the art, and the preservation of those practically identified with the manufacture, and, if possible, to attract the attention of those hitherto unacquainted with its nature and history. If we have neglected the maxim that "those who live in glass houses," &c., it has not been from the want of honest endeavors to remember it; and if we have contributed either to the instruction or the pleasure of any reader, (and this is our hope,) we shall not regret the hours spent in the preparation of this little work.
APPENDIX.
RECEIPTS, ETC.
There are plenty of receipts for the composition of flint or crystal glass, but no mixture that we know can secure a uniform shade in each pot. The component parts of glass are well known, and the mixer's sure guide is to watch the effect of heat on each pot, for he soon finds the mixture that gives good color in one pot will in another in the same furnace prove bad. If he possesses sufficient knowledge of the chemical causes, he can correct the evil.
Among the valuable receipts for rich colors is the following, for RUBY GLASS, which takes lead both in cost and richness:—
Take one ounce of pure gold; dissolve in a glass vessel two ounces pure sal ammoniac acid, and five ounces of pure nitric acid, which will take six to seven days; drop in at a time say one twentieth part of the gold. When the first piece is dissolved, drop in another twentieth portion of the gold, and so on until the ounce of gold is all dissolved. This will require twenty-four hours. Evaporate the solution to dryness. Then prepare in a glass vessel six ounces pure nitric acid, two ounces muriatic acid, and one ounce of highest proof alcohol; mix them well together, and drop in pure grained tin a bit at a time, but beware of the fumes. Stir it well with a glass rod; dilute the solution with eighty times its bulk of distilled water; then take the prepared gold, dissolved in a quart of distilled water, and pour it steadily into the solution of tin as above prepared, stirring all the while. Let it settle twenty-four to thirty hours; pour off the water, leave the settlings, pour in two thirds of a quart of water. Stir it thoroughly; let it settle thirty hours; pour off as before, and filter the precipitate through filtering paper. The result is the purple of Crassus. The ounce of gold thus prepared must be well incorporated with the following batch: say thirty-two pounds fine silex, thirty-six pounds oxide of lead, sixteen pounds refined nitre; melt the same in a clean pot, one little used, and smooth inside; when filled in, put the stopper to the pot loose, leaving it slightly open; leave it five or six hours, or time to settle, then a back stopper can be put up. In the usual time it will be ready to be worked out in solid, egg-shaped balls, and exposed to the air to be partially cooled; they are then to be placed in the leer under a strong fire, which will in two or three hours turn them to a red color; then the pans may be drawn slowly to anneal the balls.