GLASS IN THE HOME 



273 



Let the mixtures harden from three to four weeks. Examine for ap- 

 pearance. Test for strength. If supported at the ends, how much weight 

 across can be supported? Conclusions? 



Brick houses. Many of us who dwell in cities, and some 

 of us who live where clay is abundant, may live in brick 

 houses. Bricks, as 

 most of us know, 

 are made from wet 

 clay which is ground, 

 placed in molds and 

 then baked. All 

 bricks must be 

 baked, and by vari- 

 ous processes, a glaze 

 is put on the outside 

 of some, which ren- 

 ders them more or 

 less waterproof . Or- 

 dinary bricks, as one 

 can prove by an ex- 

 periment, take up a 

 great deal of water, 

 and therefore are Brickmaking. 



apt to crack and crumble in very cold regions. 



Glass in the home. We do not always think of glass 

 as a building material, yet it is a very important one, as 

 there is no satisfactory substitute for it. In these days of 

 sun parlors, large windows, and inclosed porches, glass is 

 more and more extensively used. Window glass is manu- 

 factured out of sand mixed with lime and compounds of 

 soda, melted at a high temperature, and then blown by 

 machinery into great cylinders which are later . cut and 



H.-WHIT. CIV. SCI. IN THE HOME l8 



