412 



GLASGOW. (ARTS AND MANUFACTURES.) 



projectors, did not prove successful ; but although 

 the sanguine hopes of the Foulises were not realized, 

 yet they created a spirit for the cultivation of the 

 fine arts. Among other benefits arising from their 

 efforts, it is sufficient to state, that they first gave 

 encouragement and direction to the genius of Tassie, 

 who afterwards became so eminent as an engraver 

 of gems. Messrs Foulis, in conjunction with Mr 

 Geu, made some improvements on stereotype-found- 

 ing, and afterwards, in conjunction with Mr Tilloch, 

 the Foulises printed several volumes from stereotype 

 plates in a very superior style. Type-making was 

 commenced, in 1740, by Mr, afterwards DrAlexander 

 Wilson, professor of astronomy in the university, and 

 he lived to see his establishment the most extensive 

 and celebrated of the kind in Europe. The business 

 was, after his death, carried on by his descendants, 

 and continues still to be regarded as unrivalled in 

 type-founding, for beauty of form and quality of 

 metal. In 1834, the present proprietor left this city, 

 with all the materials and workmen, and removed to 

 London, which forms the principal mart of that 

 manufacture. Among the more recent printers of 

 Glasgow may be mentioned Messrs Duncan, printers 

 to the university, whose editions of many of the 

 classics, as well as of English works, are highly 

 esteemed. Their edition of Newton's Principia, 

 was pronounced by Laplace to be the most lasting 

 monument ever erected, by the British nation, to their 

 illustrious countryman. There are about thirty mas- 

 ter printers now in the city, many of whom carry on 

 business on a considerable scale ; the establishment 

 at Villafield, (formerly Messrs Duncan's) in which 

 this Work is printed, has, in particular, long been dis- 

 tinguished for its workmanship in the departments 

 of stereotype-founding and letter-press printing. 



The refining of sugars commenced here during the 

 commonwealth, by which business, as likewise by 

 the distilling of spirits from molasses, many of the 

 Glasgow merchants amassed large fortunes ; these 

 were denominated sugar lords, as the Virginian mer- 

 chants were denominated tobacco lords. For a long 

 time the sugar trade was carried on without the 

 merchants paying any excise duty, in consequence 

 of which, an action was brought against them, and, 

 in 1719, the court of exchequer found them liable 

 to a fine of .40,000 for bygone duty. 



Glasgow is situated in a district of country 

 rich in coal mines, a position to which she owes 

 much of her prosperity in the manufactures. The 

 quantity of coal brought to Glasgow in the year 

 1831, amounted to 561,049 tons, 124,000 of which 

 were exported, the remainder being used for home 

 consumption. Vast quantities are exported to the 

 West Indies and other parts. There are eleven iron 

 works in Scotland, not one of which is more than 

 thirty miles distant from the city, and more than the 

 half of these are in the neighbourhood. Ironmong- 

 ery commenced on a large scale in Glasgow, about 

 1732, and in six years after, slitting mills and forges 

 were erected. In 1766, files were made at Strath- 

 bungo, near Glasgow, and twenty-eight years after- 

 wards a large file manufactory was erected on the 

 Molendinar burn, to the north of the city, where files 

 were made superior to those manufactured in any 

 other part of Britain. Much of the iron used in 

 Glasgow, is employed in making steam engines and 

 machinery of all descriptions. The first idea of 

 the low pressure steam engine was conceived here by 

 James Watt, and the first model put in operation at 

 the Delft house, at the Broomielaw. After the 

 expiry of his patent, the manufacture of steam en- 

 gines commenced in Glasgow, and increased rapidly, 

 so that there are now above a dozen establishments 

 carrying on this business, or making machinery of 



other descriptions. In machine making, generally, 

 Glasgow stands in the first rank, and in the mak- 

 ing of the machinery of steam vessels, it is em- 

 ployed by all the countries in Europe. Two of the 

 finest and largest vessels ever made in Britain, were 

 fitted out at Glasgow, in 1834, by Mr II. Napier, and 

 are at present plying between Dundee and London. 

 Within these few years, ship-building has become a 

 prominent branch of trade in Glasgow. 



There are nearly twenty brass foundries in the city, 

 in one of which the casting of tower or turret bells 

 has for several years been carried on with skill and 

 success. 



This city is remarkable also for its chemical manu- 

 factures. The works of Messrs Charles Tennent and 

 Co. are understood to be the greatest of the kind in 

 the world. About 1000 large carboys of concen- 

 trated sulphuric acid, are manufactured weekly, be- 

 sides a corresponding quantity of bleaching powder 

 or chloride of lime, crystals of soda, and soaps. Si- 

 milar establishments are carried on at Shawfield, 

 Camlachie, and Dalmuir ; forming an aggregate of 

 chemical products, adequate not only to the bleach- 

 ing and dyeing manufactories of Scotland, but capa- 

 ble of supplying the paper manufactories of London, 

 and many of the calico printers in Lancashire. Mr 

 Macintosh's works are celebrated for cudbear of the 

 finest quality, made from lichens gathered in immense 

 quantities in Sardinia, Sweden, and Norway. His 

 crystals and prussiate of potash, and his Prussian 

 blue cannot be excelled. Of late years he has com- 

 menced, under the protection of a patent, a manufac- 

 ture of water-proof cloth, rendered absolutely im- 

 pervious to moisture by a peculiar application of 

 caoutchouc. The chemical works at Camlachie are 

 famous for the manufacture of pyroligneous acid, and 

 a purified wood vinegar of the finest quality, which 

 they furnish to every part of the kingdom ; and for 

 superb crystals of bichromate of potash, used in dye- 

 ing the brilliant chrome yellow on calicoes ; besides 

 many other articles which our limits do not permit 

 us to enumerate. At a little distance from the city 

 are several large chemical manufactories, particu- 

 larly those at Hurlet and Campsie, where alum and 

 copperas are prepared on a very extensive scale. 



Many other chemical manufactories of lesser note 

 are necessarily passed over, as it would exceed our 

 limits to specify them. For the same reason we are 

 prevented from making any particular reference to 

 the bleaching and dyeing establishments. 



Various attempts were made, at an early period, to 

 introduce the muslin manufacture, but with little 

 success. The manufacture of coarse linens was 

 early introduced, and was carried on extensively for 

 many years. Lawns, cambrics, and fabrics of a 

 similar description, were made here in 1725, and this 

 continued to be the staple manufacture, until the 

 introduction of cotton, after the termination of the 

 American war. In 1732, Mr Harvey, a Glasgow 

 merchant, went to Haerlem, and, at the hazard of his 

 life, brought home an experienced workman, together 

 with two inkle looms, and commenced the manufac- 

 ture of tape in Glasgow ; and this was the first manu- 

 factory of the kind in Britain. For a considerable 

 time after the introduction of the cotton manufacture 

 here, no goods but those of a coarse description were 

 manufactured. A sort of handkerchief called blunks, 

 formed of linen warp, and cotton weft, formed the 

 chief manufacture in this line ; but in 1784, goods of 

 a finer description, called muslins, began to be made. 

 The first person who warped a muslin web in Scotland, 

 was Mr James Monteith of this city. The cotton 

 spinning machinery of Hargreave and Arkwright, 

 had not been long introduced into England, when the 

 Glasgow manufacturers turned their attention to this 



