Chap. OS ] THE ORIGIN OF GLASS. 3^9 



would have had the arches decorated with mosaics in glass, if 

 the use of them hud been known ; or, at all events, if from the 

 walls of the Theatre of Scaurus, where it figured, as already" 5 

 stated, glass had by that time come to be used for the arched 

 roofs of apartments. It will bo as well, therefore, to give 

 some account, also, of glass. 



CHAP. G5. (20.) TIIK oinoiN OF GLASS. 



In Syria there is u region known as Phocnice, 77 adjoining to 

 Jwhea, and enclosing, between the lower ridges of Mount 

 Carmelus, a marshy district known by the name of Cendebia. 

 In this district, it is supposed, rises the river Bolus, 7 * which, 

 after a course of live miles, empties itself into the sea near the 

 colony of Ftoletnais. The tide of this river is sluggish, and 

 the water unwholesome to drink, but held sacred for the 

 observance of certain religious ceremonials. Full of slimy 

 deposits, and very deep, it is only at the reflux of the tide 

 that the river discloses its sands; which, agitated by tho 

 waves, separate themselves from their impurities, and so 

 become cleansed. It is generally thought that it is the 

 acridity of the sea-water that has this purgative effect upon 

 the sand, and that without this action no use could be made 

 of it. The sliore upon which this sand is gathered is not 

 more than half a mile in extent; and yet, for many ages, this 

 was the only spot that afforded the material for making glass. % 



The btory is, that a ship, laden with nitre, 73 being moored 

 upon this spot, the merchants, while preparing their repast 

 upon the sea-shore, iiuding no stones at hand for supporting 

 their cauldrons, employed for the purpose some lumps of nitre 

 which they had taken from the vessel. Upon its being sub- 

 jected to the action of the lire, in combination with the sand 

 of the sea-shore, they beheld transparent streams flowing forth 

 of a liquid hitherto unknown : this, it is said, was the origin 

 of glass.** 



76 In Chapter 24 of this Book. " See B. v. c. 17. 



Scu It. v. c. 10. 



" A mineral alkali, Ueckmunn thinks ; for it could not possibly be our 

 saltpetre, ho says. See H. xxxi. c. 4G. 



w Bfckniann discredits this story, because snnd, he pays, is not so easily 

 brought to a state of fusion. Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 4%. Itohn's Edition. 



