"4. Broad Glass. — This is made of a mixture of soapboilers waste, kelp, and sand. The first ingredient consists of lime used for rendering the alkali of the soap-boiler caust c, the insolable ma't rf his keip or barilia, and a quantity of salt and water, all in a pasty state. The proportions neces sarily vary. 2 of the waste, I of kelp, and 1 of sand, form a pretty good broad glass. They are mixed together, dried, and fritted.

5. Bottle Glass is the coarsest kind. It is made of soapers' waste and river sand, in proportions which practice must determine according to the quantity of the waste; some soap. boilers extracting more sal ne matter, and others less, from ther kelps. Common sand and lime, with a little common clay and sea salt, form a cheap mixture for bottle glass.”

1. Historical Notices with respect to Glass. The manufacture of glass is one of the very highest beauty and utility. It is most probable that we are indebted for this wonderful art, as we are for the gift of letters, to the Phoenicians. According to Pliny (Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvi. c. 26.), glass had been made for many ages, of sand found near the mouth of the small river Belus in Phoenicia. "The report," says he, "is, that the crew of a merchant ship laden with nitre (fossil alkali) having used some pieces of it to support the kettles placed on the fires they had made on the sand, were surprised to see pieces formed of a translucent substance, or glass. This was a sufficient hint for the manufacture. Ingenuity (astuta et ingeniosa solertia) was immediately at work, to improve the process thus happily suggested. Hence the magnetical stone came to be added, from an idea that it contained not only iron, but glass. They also used clear pebbles, shells, and fossil sand. Indian glass is said to be formed of native crystal, and is on that account superior to every other. Phoenician glass is prepared with light dry wood, to which copper and nitre are added, the last being principally brought from Ophir. It is occasionally tinged with different colours. Sometimes it is brought to the desired shape by being blown, sometimes by being ground on a lathe, and sometimes it is embossed like silver." Sidon, he adds, is famous for this manufacture. It was there that mirrors were first invented. In Pliny's time, glass was made in Italy, of fine sand on the shore between Cuma and the Lucrine bay.

Glass was manufactured at Rome into various articles of convenience and ornament. Pliny mentions that Nero gave 6,000 sesterces (50,000l. according to the ordinary method of reckoning) for two glass cups, each having two handles! These, however, must have been of an immense size and of exquisite workmanship; for glass was then in common use for drinking vessels, and was used even in the form of bottles in which to keep wine. (Mart. Epig. lib. ii. 22. 40., and lib. iv. 86.)

There is no authentic evidence of glass being used in windows previously to the third or fourth century; and then, and for long after, it was used only in churches and other public buildings. In this country, even so late as the latter part of the sixteenth century, glass was very rarely met with. In a survey of Alnwick Castle, made in 1573, it is stated -"And, because throwe extreme winds, the glasse of the windowes of this and other my lord's castles and houses here in the country dooth decay and waste, yt were good the whole leights of everie windowe, at the departure of his lordshippe from lyinge at any of his said castels, and houses, and dowring the time of his lordship's absence, or others lyinge in them, were taken doune and lade up in safety: And at sooche time as ather his lordshippe or anie other sholde lye at any of the said places, the same might then be set uppe of newe, with smale charges, whereas now the decaye thereof shall be verie costlie and chargeable to be repayred." -(North. Housh. Book, xvii.) Sir F. M. Eden thinks it probable that glass windows were not introduced into farmhouses in England much before the reign of James I. They are mentioned in a lease in 1615, in a parish in Suffolk. In Scotland, however, as late as 1661, the windows of ordinary country houses were not glazed, and only the upper parts of even those in the king's palaces had glass; the lower ones having two wooden shutters, to open at pleasure, and admit the fresh air. From a passage in Harrison's Description of England, it may be inferred that glass was introduced into country houses in the reign of Henry VIII. He says, —“ Of old time," (meaning, probably, the beginning of the century.) "our countrie houses instead of glasse did use much lattise, and that made either of wicker or fine rifts of oke in checkerwise. I read also that some of the better sort, in and before the time of the Saxons, did make panels of horne instead of glasse, and fix them in wooden calmes (casements); but as horne in windowes is now (1584) quite laid downe in everie place, so our lattises are also growne into disuse, because glasse is come to be so plentiful, and within verie little so good, cheape, if not better than the other." Glass is now introduced into the windows of almost every cottage of Great Britain; and in this cold, damp climate, it ought rather to be considered as a necessary of life, than as the most elegant and useful of conveniences. What Dr. Johnson has said as to glass deserves to be quoted: "By some fortuitous liquefaction

If this be a correct description of the glass of India in the age of Pliny, it has since fallen off very much; Indian glass being now about the very worst that is made. At present, the Hindoos manufacture it of fragments of broken glass, quartz sand, and impure soda, an article found native in many parts of India, particularly in the south. The furnaces are so bad that they cannot melt our common bottle glass. -(Hamilton's Mysore, vol. iii. p. 370.) The glass of China is much better than that of India, though still very inferior to that of Europe.

was mankind taught to produce a body at once in a high degree solid and transparent, which might admit the light of the sun, and exclude the violence of the wind; which might extend the sight of the philosopher to new ranges of existence, and charm him at one time with the unbounded extent of the material creation, and at another with the endless subordination of animal life; and, what is of yet more importance, might supply the decays of nature, and succour old age with subsidiary sight. Thus was the first artificer in glass employed, though without his own knowledge or expectation. He was facilitating and prolonging the enjoyment of light, enlarging the avenue of science, and conferring the highest and most lasting pleasures; he was enabling the student to contemplate nature, and the beauty to behold herself.”—(Rambler, No. 9.)

Venice, for a long time, excelled all Europe in the manufacture of glass, but was subsequently rivalled by France. The manufacture was early introduced into England; but it was not carried on to any extent previously to the sixteenth century. The first plates for looking-glasses and coach windows were made in 1673, at Lambeth, by Venetian artists under the protection of the Duke of Buckingham. The British Plate Company was incorporated in 1773, when it erected its extensive works at Ravenhead near St. Helen's, in Lancashire. The manufacture was at first conducted by workmen from France, whence we had previously brought all our plate glass. But that which is now made at Ravenhead, at Liverpool, and London, is equal or superior to any imported from the Continent."

It is difficult to form any precise estimate of the value of the glass annually produced in Great Britain. We believe, however, that it cannot amount to less than 2,600,000l. ; and that the workmen employed in the different departments of the manufacture exceed 45,000.

Duties on Glass. Considering the vast importance of glass, and the various necessary, convenient, and ornamental purposes to which it is applied, it might have been supposed that it would be exempted from all taxation; and that, at all events, if the public exigencies made its taxation indispensable, that the duties on it would be kept within reasonable limits, and imposed in the way least likely to be injurious. We regret, however, to state that these apparently obvious considerations were all but wholly lost sight of in the taxing of glass in this country; the duties on it having been carried to a most exorbitant extent, and imposed in the most oppressive manner. After successive augmentations, the duties were raised in 1813 to the amount of 98s. a cwt. on flint and plate glass! And the consequence was, that despite the increase of wealth and population in the interim, the consumption of both these sorts of glass was less than it had been in 1794, when the duty was only 32s. 24d. a cwt.! The progress of the manufacture and of the duties since 1813 is exhibited in the subjoined tables, the influence of the various modifications of the latter on production being too obvious to require being pointed out.

We do not know whether it was possible materially to vary the mode in which the duties were assessed, without opening a still wider door to fraud than that which existed. But they not only augmented the price of a most indispensable article by their entire amount, but they farther augmented it, and that in no inconsiderable degree, by fettering the operations of the manufacturers, and preventing them from making experiments and improvements, and introducing new processes. In this respect the duties were especially injurious. Nor can any one acquainted with the facts entertain any doubt that the Commissioners of Excise Inquiry were fully justified in expressing their conviction that "no tax can combine more objections, or be more at variance with all sound principles of taxation, than this duty on glass.”

Had it been impossible otherwise to get rid of the duties, they might have been advantageously commuted for an increase of the house duty. The greater cheapness of glass would have more than compensated to most householders for the increase of the house tax, at the same time that the manufacture would have been increased and improved.

But any commutation of this sort was rendered unnecessary. The imposition of the income tax having supplied Sir Robert Peel with the means of effecting those great financial reforms which will ever distinguish his administration, the glass duties were repealed from the 5th April, 1845. The beneficial influence of this liberal and most judicious measure is obvious in the improved quality, the increased cheapness, and greater variety of descriptions of glass in the market; and there can be no doubt that its advantages will become still more and more obvious from the facilities it gives for the introduction of improvements, and, consequently, for ameliorating the fabric as well as reducing the cost of one of the most useful and admirable of the products of art and industry.

The annexed tables show the state of the manufacture previously to the abolition of the duty.

The duties on foreign glass are specified in the Tariff.

1. A Return of the Rates of Duty on Glass in 1813, with the Quantities of each Kind of Glass retained for Home Use, and the aggregate Nett Revenue in each Year, from 1813 to 1842, both included, noting the Periods when any Alteration of the Duty took place, and the Amount of such Alterations.

II. Account exhibiting the Quantities of the different Descriptions of Glass manufactured during each of the 3 Years ending with 1842, with the Quantities exported, the Rates and Produce of the Duties, &c.-(Obtained from the Excise.)

GLOVES (Ger. Handschuhe; Fr. Gants; It Guanti; Sp. Guantes; Rus. Rukawizii, Pertschatki, Golizii), well known articles of dress used for covering the hands, usually made of leather, but frequently also of cotton, wool, silk, &c. The leather used in the manufacture of gloves not, properly speaking, tanned, but prepared by a peculiar process that renders it soft and pliable. Some sorts of leather gloves admit of being washed, and others not. Woodstock and Worcester, but particularly the former, are celebrated for the manufacture of leather gloves of a superior quality; in which a great number of women and girls, as well as men, are employed. Besides Worcester and Woodstock, London, Yeovil, Ludlow, and Leominster are the principal seats of the leather glove manufacture. It is, however, impossible to obtain any trustworthy accounts of the numbers produced. Gloves are sometimes sewed by machinery; but this is done only to improve the work by rendering the stitches more correctly equidistant, as it is not cheaper than manual labour. Limerick used to be famous for the manufacture of a sort of ladies' gloves, called chicken gloves. Large quantities of cotton gloves are made at Nottingham and Leicester.

Influence of Repeal of Prohibition of Importation.—The importation of leather gloves and mitts was formerly prohibited, under the severest penalties. This prohibition had the effect, by preventing all competition and emulation with the foreigner, to check improvement, and to render British gloves at once inferior in quality and high in price. This system was, however, permitted to continue till 1825, when the prohibition was repealed, and gloves allowed to be imported on payment of duties, which, though high, are not prohibitory. This measure was vehemently opposed; and many predictions were made of the total ruin of the manufacture; but in this, as in most other instances, experience has shown that the trade had not been materially benefited by the prohibition. The wholesome competition to which the manufacturers now felt themselves, for the first time, exposed, made them exert all their energies; and it is admitted on all hands, that there was a more rapid improvement in the manufacture during the dozen years after the trade was opened than in the previous half century. There was, no doubt, a great deal of complaining of a decay of trade among the leather glove manufacturers, and large quantities of gloves are imported; but the check given to the trade was probably owing more to the growing use of home-made cotton gloves than to the importation of foreign leather gloves; and had it not been for the improved fabric, and greater cheapness of British leather gloves, that has grown out of the new system, it is abundantly certain that cotton gloves would have gained still more rapidly on them. In point of fact, however, it does not appear, taking the smuggling that formerly existed into account, that there has been any considerable falling off in the leather glove trade. At all events, there has been no serious falling off in the number of skins brought from abroad to be used in the manufacture, and consequently in the number of pairs of gloves produced from such skins; and there is no reason for thinking that it is different with the other departments.

Account of the Number of Lamb and Kid Skins entered for Home Consumption in the undermentioned Years, with an Estimate of the quantity of Gloves which such Skins would produce, on the Supposition that from each 120 Skins there would be manufactured 18 Dozen Pairs of Gloves.

At an average of the years 1850 and 1851, 2,805,123 pairs of foreign leather gloves were entered for consumption, producing an annual average revenue of 42,9587. The duties, which vary from 2s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. per doz. pairs, are specified in the Art. TARIFF.

GOLD (Ger. Gold; Du. Goud; Da. and Sw. Guld; Fr. Or; It. and Sp. Oro; Port. Oiro, Ouro; Rus. Soloto; Pol. Zloto; Lat. Aurum; Arab. Tibr and Zeheb ; Sans. Swarna; Malay, Mās), the most precious of all the metals, seems to have been known from the earliest antiquity. It is of an orange red, or reddish yellow colour, and has no perceptible taste or smell. Its lustre is considerable, yielding only to that of platinum, steel, silver, and mercury. It is rather softer than silver. Its specific gravity is 19.3. No other substance is equal to it in ductility and malleability. It may be beaten out into leaves so thin, that one grain of gold will cover 56 square inches. These leaves are only of an inch thick. But the gold leaf with which silver wire is covered has only of that thickness. An ounce of gold upon silver is capable of being extended more than 1,300 miles in length. Its tenacity is considerable, though in this respect it yields to iron, copper, platinum, and silver. From the experiments of Seckingen, it appears that a gold wire 0.078 inch in diameter, is capable of supporting a weight of 150-07 lbs. avoirdupois without breaking. It melts at 32° of Wedgwood's pyrometer. When melted, it assumes a bright bluish green colour. It expands in the act of fusion, and consequently contracts while becoming solid more than most metals; a circumstance which renders it less proper for casting in moulds. (Thomson's Chemistry.)

For the quantities of gold produced, and the places where it is produced, see PRECIOUS METALS.

GOMUTI, OR EJOO, a species of palm (Borassus Gomutus), growing in the Indian islands.

A valuable product is obtained from this palm, resembling black horse hair; it is found between the trunk and branches, at the insertion of the latter, in a matted form, interspersed with long, hard, woody twigs of the same colour. When freed from the latter, it is manufactured by the natives into cordage. Its fibres are stronger and more durable, but less pliant, than those of the cocoa nut, or coir-(see Coir); and is, therefore, fitter for cables and standing rigging, but less fit for running rigging. The native shipping of the Eastern islands of all kinds are chiefly equipped with cordage of the gomuti; and the largest European shipping in the Indies use cables of it. It undergoes no preparation but that of spinning and twisting; no material similar to our tar and pitch, indispensable to the preservation of hempen cordage, being necessary with a substance that, in a remarkable degree, possesses the quality of resisting alternations of heat and moisture. The gomuti of Amboyna, and the other Spice islands, is the best. That of Java has a coarse ligneous fibre. Gomuti is generally sold in twisted shreds or yarns, often as low as 1 dollar a picul, and seldom more than 2. Were European ingenuity applied to the improvement of this material, there seems little doubt that it might be rendered more extensively useful.-(Crawfurd's East. Archip. vol. iii. p. 425.)

GOOD HOPE, CAPE OF. See CAPE TOWN.

GOTTENBURG, OR, more properly, GOTHABORG, on the south-west coast of Sweden, at the head of a fiord near the Cattegat, which receives the river Götha, lat. 57° 42' 4" N., lon. 11° 57' 45" E. Population 29,000, and increasing. Vessels do not come close to the city, but lie in the river or harbour at a short distance from the shore, goods being conveyed from and to them by lighters that navigate the canals by which the lower part of the town is intersected. The depth of water in the port is 17 feet, and there is no tide, bar, or shailow. A vessel entering the Götha must take a pilot on board, whose duty it is to meet her league west of Wingo beacon. After Stockholm, Gottenburg has the most extensive commerce of any town in Sweden. Iron and steel, the former excellent, but the latter inferior to that made in England, form the principal articles of export. They are brought from the rich mines of Wermeland, distant about 200 miles; being conveyed partly by the lake Wener, partly by the Tröllhætta canal―(see CANALS), — and partly by the river Götha. The exports of iron, in 1847, amounted in all to 27,447 tons. The original cost of iron is supposed to be increased about 5 per cent, by the expense of its conveyance to Gottenburg; and the shipping charges, inclusive of the export duty, are about 10 per cent. additional. The next great article of export is timber, particularly deals, which are also furnished by Wermeland. Of these, the exports, in 1847, were 227,000 doz., but this is above the average. The other articles of export are linen, sail-cloth, tar, copper, alum, glass, cobalt, manganese, linseed, oak bark, bones, juniper berries, cranberries, rock moss for dyeing, &c. Grain is sometimes imported and sometimes exported. The principal articles of import are sugar, coffee, tobacco, cotton yarn and twist, salt, indigo, and dye woods, South Sea oil, rice, herrings, wine, spices, &c. There belonged to the port in 1847, exclusive of river craft, 126 vessels of the aggregate burden of 13,254 Swedish lasts, or about 30,000 English tons, and ship building has since been going on briskly. The opening of the Götha canal by which Gottenburg communicates with a large portion of the interior of Sweden, has exercised a powerful and beneficial influence over her commerce. She carries on an extensive trade with England, and English is generally understood. Steamers run once a week between Gottenburg and Hull for 8 months of the year; but in winter the intercourse with England is kept up by the tedious route of Lubeck and Hamburg.

Herring Fishery. Gottenburg used, at no distant period, to be one of the principal seats of the herring fishery; but at present this branch of industry is quite extinct, and it has always been very capricious. From 1556 to 1588, great quantities of herrings were taken from 1588 to 1660, they left the coast; during the next 15 years they were again abundant: but from 1675 to 1747, they entirely disappeared. From 1747 to 1770, they were abundant, 186,614 barrels being taken in 1763, and 151,483 in 1768. From 1786 to 1799, the fishery was very good, from 110,000 to 190.000 barrels being annually exported. In 1804, the export was 79,512 barrels. In 1808 and 1809, fish were very scarce; and in 1812 they entirely disappeared, and have not hitherto returned: so that Gottenburg, instead of exporting, at present imports considerable supplies of herrings.

Both iron and timber pay duties on exportation, but they are not heavy.

Custom-house Regulations and Port Charges.-On arriving in port, no person is allowed to board or to leave a vessel till she be in custody of the officers; who, having inspected the manifest and papers, send them to the Custom-house. An officer is ap pointed to superintend the unloading and also the loading. The public charges of all sorts on a Swedish ship and on a foreign ship not privileged, each of 300 tons burden, unloading and loading mixed cargoes at Gottenburg, would be, on the former, 241. 58. 7d.; on the latter, 497. 58. 7d. On a privileged foreign ship the charges are the same as on a Swedish ship.

Warehousing System. Goods may be bonded for any length of time, on paying per cent. ad valorem for the first 2 years, and per cent, annually thereafter.

Commission, Credit, &c. The usual rate of commission is 2 per cent. Goods are commonly sold on credit. Raw sugar

GRACE, DAYS OF. See EXCHANGE.

at 9 months, with 3 months' interest to the seller. Other goods at 3, 4, and 6 months.

Banking, &c. There are no public or private banking establishments at Gottenburg for the issue of notes; but the national bank has two offices here which advance limited sums of money, at 5 per cent. on the security of goods, and in discount of bills. Some of the Euglish insurance companies have agents here, who do a good deal of business.

Sea Stores, Water, &c. These may be had here of excellent quality and cheap. Beef, 14d. per lb., best rye bread, 21d. per Ib., and butter, fid. per lb.

see.

Money, Weights, Measures, &c., same as at Stockholm, which

In compiling this article, we have made use of consular returns, Care's Travels in the North of Europe, vol. iv. pp. 267 -275.; and some valuable private communications.

GRAPES (Ger. Trauben; Fr. Raisins; It. Grappoli, Grappi; Sp. Ubas, Racimos ; Lat. Uve), a well known fruit, produced from the vine.