USES OF SAND. 109 



But though destructive from one point of view, nothing, 

 on the other hand, is better fitted than sand for the preserva- 

 tion of ancient monuments, and should any of the buried 

 cities of Gobi ever be uncovered, no doubt they will be 

 found to have been taken excellent care of. So, at least, 

 it has been in the western plain of the Nile, where the sand 

 is so fine as to be like a fluid, and has buried and pre- 

 served the monuments of Ipsambul so perfectly that not a 

 feature is injured, nor are even the colours impaired. 



The uses to which we put sand are many and various, 

 but so familiar that the mere enumeration of them will 

 suffice. The farmer and gardener use it for mixing with 

 heavy clay soils, which would else be too stiff and air-tight 

 for any crops to flourish in ; the stone- and marble-cutter 

 want it for sawing, grinding, and polishing, tor which last 

 two purposes it is also used in many other trades, and the 

 housewife scours her pots and pans with it, either in the 

 natural state or in the form of sand-paper. 



All this is obvious enough, and no one will doubt that 

 sand is useful ; but who, unless he knew the fact, would guess 

 that sand could also be made ornamental ? 



Yet the inscription on an old German drinking-glass 

 runs as follows : " I am beautifully clear and bright, and I 

 am made of sand and ashes." 



Very unpromising looking " dust " this, yet out of it come 

 the crystal glass which sparkles on the dinner-table, and the 

 window glass by which light is admitted to our rooms, as well 

 as innumerable other varieties. How and when the art of 

 glass-making was invented is unknown, but it was practised 

 by the ancient Assyrians and Egyptians, as the specimens 



