Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 7.djvu/580

562 glass can be cut through with the diamond, and as, moreover, its surface can be removed by polishing and cutting with the wheel, without injury to the mass, it is evident that it must exist under conditions very dissimilar from those of a Rupert's drop. Moreover, melted glass, on being dropped into De la Bastie's bath, gives a similarly shaped body, from which the tail can be broken off, piece by piece, without injury to the body, which can be scratched, knocked and thrown about, without exhibiting any signs of deterioration. Bearing upon this point, too, comes the fact that toughened glass can be elegantly engraved, either by Tilghman's sand-blast process, or by means of hydrofluoric acid, in the ordinary way, the surface or outer skin being thus removed.

M. de la Bastie's invention marks a distinct era in the history of one of our most important industries. Never during the history of glass-manufacture, which extends over some 3,500 years, has any radical change been effected in its character. The glass-blowers of Egypt, who practised their art before the exodus of the children of Israel, and representations of whom have been found on monuments as ancient as that event, produced a similar glass to that of our own times. This has been proved by an examination of glass ornaments which have been discovered in tombs as ancient as the days of Moses. It has been proved, too, by a large bead of glass, found at Thebes, upon which was inscribed the name of a monarch who lived 1,500 years and which glass was of the same specific gravity as our own crown-glass. It is true Pliny mentions that a combination was devised in the reign of Tiberius, which produced a flexible glass; but both the inventor and apparatus were destroyed, in order, it is said, to prevent the value of copper, silver, and gold, from becoming depreciated. There is, however, no evidence whatever that this was the toughening process of De la Bastie, nor does the record in any way detract from the merits of that gentleman as the inventor of an important economic process. The fact remains that the world has now given to it for the first time, in a practical form, an invention by which the brittleness of glass is superseded by an attribute of the most valuable nature—toughness. It is by no means improbable that the old adage, "as brittle as glass," will soon be superseded by a new one—"as tough as glass."

What may be the ultimate result of the introduction of this invention in practice it is difficult to foresee, so wide-spread, so universal does its application seem. Not only is it desirable to render durable such articles as are at present made from glass, but to satisfy a want long felt in every department of art, science, and manufacture, of such a material as toughened glass; and this want can now be satisfied. So numerous are the opportunities which present for its application, and so well adapted does it appear to be where cleanliness, transparency, resistance to heat and chemical action, and comparative