Michael Cable

Early Nineteenth Century Glass Technology in Austria and Germany Michael Cable

THIS volume contains translations of important but strangely neglected papers on glass making written by two authors between 1820 and 1837. It is the third in a eight book series that allows readers to follow the advance of understanding of glass-making over three centuries by reading accounts written by authors of times past. The first was Christopher Merrett's Art of Glass published in 1662; the second, Bosc D'Antic on Glass-making, contained essays written in French between 1758 and 1780. Benjamin Scholz was the first Professor of Applied Chemistry at the Polytechnic in Vienna. His very long paper published in 1820 summarizes scientific understanding of glass, some of which was surprisingly advanced, and then describes in detail extensive Austrian trials to find how to use saltcake instead of soda or potash as the flux in glass-making. Factory Superintendent Kirn wrote seven papers between 1831 and 1837 which describe in more detail than any others the best practices for melting good glass, beginning with preparation and drying of the wood to fire the furnace. One paper examines how the large difference in the price of wood in France and Germany affected the cost of glass-making and thus the glass-makers' practices. Others describe series of experiments to optimize the design and performance of furnaces, wood-drying kilns and kilns for flattening sheet glass. One of them describes extensive trials on the use of both saltcake and sodium chloride as sources of alkali. These papers deserve to be studied by anyone wishing to understand or emulate the most efficient operation of wood-fired glass-melting furnaces.