(probably manganese,) was found in Egypt, without which, the
valuable coloured glass could not be made. It is also related that the
Emperor Hadrian received as a present from an
Egyptian priest, several Glass cups, sparkling with every colour; these,
as costly wares, were ordered to be used only on grand festivals.
We have incidentally mentioned the discovery
of Glass at Pompeii. Glass vessel have, also been found among the ruins
of Herculaneum; and it appears that Glass was
used for admitting light to dwellings in Pompeii,*
although other houses had window-frames filled with a kind of transparent
talc.†
In the reign
of Tiberius, a Roman artist had, according to
Pliny, his house demolished—according to other writers, he was
beheaded—for making Glass malleable. The Pompeian and Roman
architects are known to have used Glass in their Mosaic decorations; of
these, remains have been found among the ruins of the villa of the Emperor
Tiberius, in the island of Capri. Several specimens,
also, are yet to be seen in Westminster
Abbey, cemented into the sides of the tomb of Edward the Confessor.
They are flat pieces, about a quarter of an inch thick; the under layer
has a reddish, granulated appearance,
* Mr. Auldjo, of Noel House,
Kensington, who resided several years at Naples, states, that he has been
Glass in the window-=frames of some of the houses of Pompeii. Mr. Roach
Smith has a specimen of ancient flat Glass; such as he believes to have
been used by the Romans, or their predecessors, for windows.
† Glass, melted and
cast into plates, is said by St. Jerome to have been used in his
time, (A.D. 422,) to form windows. About a century
later, Paulus Silentiarius mentions
the windows of the church of St.
Sophia, at Constantinople, which were covered with glass; and
from this period, frequent allusions to the similar use of glass
are met with in various authors,—Treatise on Glass: Cabinet
Cyclopædia.
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