GLASS-MAKING. 



161 



impurities which float as a scum on the surface of the bath. To 

 avoid these evils, each gathering hole has its " boot/' a rounded 

 hood of fire-clay which surrounds the hole on the inside of the 

 chamber, and extends downward to the bottom of the bath in the 

 shape of an oval cylinder. An opening near the bottom of the 

 cylinder admits the fluid glass into the interior of the boot, and 



Fig. 3. The Operation of "Marvering." 



permits it to stand always at the same level there as in the gather- 

 ing chamber outside. Thus the gatherer draws his burden from 

 this little bucket-like reservoir, but, like the widow's cruse of oil, 

 the supply never gives out. 



Outside of the furnace the agencies of heat and chemism are 

 replaced by that of human dexterity. The men work in companies, 

 which are known in the glass-maker's parlance as " shops." And 

 very busy companies they are. They resemble nothing so much 

 as a swarm of bees, as they hurry to and fro about the gathering 

 holes. The condition is one of almost nervous activity. The men 

 toss their blowpipes hither and thither in the operation of form- 

 ing the bottles, and boys dart in and out of the crowd carrying bot- 



TOL. XXXVI. 11 



