Who is not acquainted with glassware in some form or other? From the early days of the Ancient Egyptians the art of glassmaking was known, and it is now one of our most important industries, supplying as it does many articles for our common domestic use and convenience. Glass windows have introduced comfort and convenience into every home; for by their means light is admitted into our dwellings without the wind, rain and cold, and we enjoy the blessings of the one without the inconveniences of the others. The purposes for which glass can be used are manifold; and in domestic articles it contributes largely to our cleanliness and health. In the use of spectacles, table glass, mirrors, bottles, and many other goods our dependence upon glass becomes very evident. The degree of proficiency attained in the manufacture of glass is still more remarkable when we consider the various kinds of glassware used in physical, chemical, astronomic, medical, and other scientific investigations. Many of the wonderful results of the present times would not have been attained without the aid of glass in supplying the needs of our scientific investigators. Before August, 1914, few people realised the important part glass occupies in the production of war munitions. The importance of optical glasses for telescopes, gun sights, and microscopes is well known. Again, glass plays an essential part in every ship, locomotive, motor-car, aeroplane, and coal mine, and if defective glasses were supplied there would be a great loss in our industrial efficiency. The manufacture of high explosives or special steels could not be carried on without the supplies of laboratory glassware to enable the chemist to carry out his delicate tests.

Upon the outbreak of the present war our supplies of certain types of glassware were not made in Great Britain, but imported from abroad, and it was owing to the energy and enterprise of a Scottish glass manufacturer, with some assistance from a well-known scientist, that a start was made in making these much-needed goods, and what might have been a serious crisis was averted. Professor Herbert Jackson and the Institute of Chemistry placed at the disposal of glass manufacturers numerous formulas for the special glasses that were urgently required, and later on this work was recognised by the Government; and now the investigations are being continued by a committee, with the assistance of the Government, under the control of the Ministry of Munitions. This committee is now rendering the greatest assistance to manufacturers in the general development of the glass trade and the reclamation of the ground lost in previous years. There is now every hope that Britain may raise again to eminence and perfection this very important industry of glassmaking. One of the chief objects of this volume is to supply within a small practical treatise the general available information upon glass manufacture, much of which, although familiar to many manufacturers or those engaged in glass works, will be of great assistance to those who are commencing a study of this very interesting and complex subject.

Few people have any idea of the vast and enormous trade done on the Continent in the manufacture of glassware for export to Great Britain and British Possessions abroad, and on this account it is essential that so important a subject as glass manufacture should form some part in the technical education of our universities and trade schools, so that a section of the rising generation may be taught to understand the manufacture of such a necessary commercial product, and assist in recapturing the trade from the Continental glass works in supplying our needs. That some progress has been made along these lines is evident by the establishment at Sheffield University of a school in Glass Technology, and it is to be hoped that similar schools will be established in other centres, staffed by capable instructors and supported by the co-operation of the glass manufacturers.

The author gives in an Appendix the literature accessible to those who wish for further information upon the subject, and trusts that, in the presentation of these notes, in response to the demand for such a book, a useful purpose will have been served by introducing the first principles of glass manufacture to those interested.

It affords me great pleasure to acknowledge the valuable aid that has been rendered me by Mr. S. N. Jenkinson, Professor Herbert Jackson, and Mr. Frederick Carder, to whom I am much indebted.

My thanks are also due to the following firms: Messrs. Melin & Co., Crutched Friars; The Hermansen Engineering Co., Birmingham; The Glass Engineering Co., Edinburgh; and Banks & Co., Edinburgh, who have kindly supplied me with illustrations.

Craigentinny,

Edinburgh.