90 GLASS. 



MRS. F. 



In church windojjis, they have been used for upwards of a 

 thousand years, but glazed windows in dwelling-houses were 

 rare even in the time of Henry VIII. They were then 

 moveable furniture; and we read so late as the reign of Queen 

 Elizabeth, that when the Earl of Northumberland left Aln- 

 wick Castle, in 1573, the windows were taken out of their 

 frames, and laid carefully by. But, talking of glass, I con- 

 clude that you are all familiar with the account of the first 

 discovery of glass 1 ? 



HENRIETTA. 



About the merchants who were wrecked with a cargo of 

 nitre, upon the coast of Palestine, near the river Belus, and 

 who supported their kettles with the blocks of nitre, which, 

 combining with the sand, produced glass] 



MRS. F. 



Exactly so. Whether the account be fabulous or not, there 

 is little doubt but that its first discovery is to be attributed to 

 accident. 



ESTHER. 



Is sand much used now in making glass? 



MRS. F. 



Generally; but in glass for artificial stones powdered rock 

 crystal is usually employed in preference; flints and the white 

 quartz pebbles found in rivers are also sometimes used. 



ESTHER. 



The sand of Alum Bay, in the Isle of Wight, is particu- 

 larly white, and is much employed in the making of glass. 



MRS. c. 

 And so is that in the vast sand caverns at Reigate. 



MRS. F. f 



I never heard of them, though I have often passed through 

 that town, in my way to Brighton. 



