'-^vi^n.ry^'xlT^}  Glass  Manufactufe,  125 
vices;  scientific  glassware;  illuminating  glassware."  The  coun- 
try is  now  practically  self-supporting  with  regard  to  scientific  hollow 
ware,  and  it  may  be  hoped  that  the  labors  of  the  Standardization 
Committee  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  which  have  aimed 
at  the  standardization  of  chemical  apparatus,  may  have  been  of 
value  to  the  industry.  The  output  of  lamp-blown  apparatus  and 
of  graduated  apparatus  has  increased  enormously,  but  it  may  be 
anticipated  that  this  branch  of  the  industry  will  meet  with  keen 
competition.  The  scientific  public,  critical  of  home-made  goods, 
has  suddenly  awakened  to  the  fact  that  much  of  the  imported 
graduated  ware  was  very  inaccurate,  and  is  insisting  on  a  higher 
quality  of  goods,  which  the  British  manufacturers  are  succeeding 
in  supplying. 
Though  great  progress  has  been  made  in  the  manufacture  of  il- 
luminating glassware,  neither  plant  nor  labor  has  been  sufficient  to 
cope  with  the  demand.  Optical  glass  was  manufactured  in  this 
country  before  the  war,  but  on  a  scale  totally  insufficient  to  meet 
our  requirements,  and  during  the  past  five  years  the  development 
of  the  industry  has  been  extraordinary.  It  m.ust  be  remembered 
that  while  a  very  inferior  lamp  chimney  will  still  serve  a  very  useful 
purpose,  optical  glass  must  be  good,  indeed,  very  good,  or  it  will 
be  quite  useless. 
In  this  part  of  the  industry  refractories  play  an  important  part, 
for  if  the  pots  will  not  withstand  the  solvent  action  of  the  glass,  as 
the  pot  material  dissolves  it  changes  its  composition,  and  also  gives 
rise  to  stones  and  cords.  The  iron  oxide  from  the  clay  tends  to  dis- 
color the  glass,  and  the  color  cannot  be  corrected  by  the  use  of  man- 
ganese or  other  reagents.  Stirring  the  molten  glass,  which  is  neces- 
sary in  order  to  make  it  homogeneous,  naturally  presents  difficul- 
ties which  have  been  only  partially  overcome.  The  reduction  of 
the  wastage  between  the  founding  of  the  glass  and  the  formation 
of  the  blocks  and  blanks  supplied  to  the  lens  maker  offers  scope  for 
investigation.  Though  much  research  work  has  already  been 
carried  out  in  this  country  and  also  in  America,  where  the  industry 
is  also  a  new  one,  much  remains  to  be  done.  Very  high  credit  at- 
taches to  the  work  already  accomplished. 
Finally,  while  we  must  try  and  hold  on  to  what  we  have  won, 
we  must  endeavor  to  win  back  what  we  have  lost.  The  diversion 
of  plant  and  labor  previously  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  high- 
class  ornamental  glassware  has  resulted  in  the  disorganization  of 
