532

SOCIAL AMD SCIENTIFIC VALUE OF GLASS MANUFACTURE. TClass XXAL

cessful competitors. We trust that in what we have said,it will be lelieved that we have no other object in viewthan to act in accordance with our duty, and deliver ouropinion faithfully, according to the best of our judgment;and in doing so, if we “just hint a fault,” we do not“ hesitate dislike.” We are proud of our manufactures;we enter warmly into the interests of the persons engagedin their production. Perhaps we are over anxious fortheir success. But we see, and we see it with satisfaction,that the foreigners are making rapid advances; and arebringing their intelligence and their taste into compe-tition with us. We see new and extensive fields, openingevery day by the wisdom of Providence, for the appli-cation of oar energies and our resources; and it becomesour duty, as well as our interest, not to be backward inthe struggle. “ Up and be doing, and God will prosper.”His bounty has prospered us in a most abundant andastonishing degree; and, from the tiller of the soil, themanufacturer of her produce, to the fabricator of themost delicate work, it will be by our own fault if wecease to excel. On behalf of that art which is more par-ticularly ur.der our consideration, we claim the exerciseof increased energy and science. It is a manufacture forwhich the primary constituents are easily and cheaplysupplied; and it combines, in a remarkable degree, thepurposes of utility, of comfort to all classes, and of deco-ration. It reflects the splendour of the palace, and thebeauty of the toilet. It lends its aid to science, and con-veys the power of vision into infinite space; and, withinthe last few years, has enabled the astronomer to detect,in the obscurity of their remoteness, planets on which theeye of man had never rested before ; and likewise, by itsaid, amid the ruins of a former creation, countless millionsof anintalcdce may be observed through the microscopein the oolitic formations of our globe. It imparts comfortalike to the rich and the poor, by the admission of thebright rays of the sun into their abodes, and the exclusionof the inclemency of the weather. It assists the sight ofdeclining years, and enables the aged man to seek comfortin his Bible , and impart its Divine truths to his family.It directs the seaman in his midnight course, warninghim of danger, and cheering him by the prospect ofsecurity and home.

In drawing up the foregoing Report, information hasbeen most liberally supplied, of the advantage of whichthe Reporter is fully sensible, and he begs leave to returnhis wannest thanks to John Wood, Esq., Chairman of theInland Revenue Board; to M. Bontemps, and to CharlesWinston, E?q., for their valuable assistance and advice;to Sir Pavil Brewster, and Mr. Ross, more particularlyfor that which relates to the question of the structure ofglass for op'ical purposes ; and to Messrs. Zuccani, Wood,Pellatt, and others, for the information which they haveso readily given. The highly-interesting articles inLanltier’s Cabinet Cyclopaedia, in the EncyclopaediaBritannica. and Metropolitans, and in M. Labartd’s workon the collection of Debruge Dumenil, have suppliedvery valuable information, and will amply repay thetrouble of referring to them; and the Reporter cannotconclude wkhout taking leave of the English and ForeignAssociates in the Jury, over which he has had the honourto preside; and affording his testimony to the zeal andintelligence which they have manifested in the dischargeof the duties which they have been invited to undertake;and witbou: expressing his satisfaction in witnessing thecordiality with which Foreigners and Englishmen haveacted together; and though ditferingin habits and opinions,aud urging'.hose opinions with acuteness and with earnest-ness, have gracefully conceded, where they failed in per-suading the majority; and he begs them to accept hissincere thanks for their able support, and their courtesy,kindness, aid indulgence to himself in the discharge oftheir mutual duties.

Award of the Medals.

The Instructions of the Executive Committee are under-stood by the Jury to be to this effect: —

No question of nationality is to*affect the judgment ofthe Jury.

No compirison of the respective merits of exhibitors is

| to be made. In recommending for the Council Meial,and in awarding the Prize Medal at the disposal of theJuries, the merit of the article exhibited, simply, is n beregarded.

Where an exhibitor is a member of a Jury, he cannot; compete for any Medal. But the Jury think themselvesj justified in adverting in their Report to the merits of the\ object which a Juror may have exhibited; and like-wise! in mentioning favourably those works, which are not ofj sufficient importance to lay claim to a Medal.

| Excellence in manufacture, being, in other words, aj mere difference in degree of merit between subjects in-j eluded in the same Class, cannot be rewarded with a; Council Medal without a deviation from the principles; laid down by the Commission. Novelty of invention, oradaptation, or peculiarity in the mode of manufacture, ifdeemed of sufficient importance, may entitle to the rewirdof a Council Medal.

It is important that the exhibitors, as well as the Jury,should keep the principle involved in these Instructionsclearly in view; because it cannot but appear at frstsight to be an anomaly, to withhold from objects of im-portance or value a Council Medal, while this distinctionis recommended for products, which, if not inferior inimportance, beauty, or utility, are at least attended withinfinitely less expense and risk in the manufacture. Butthe instructions of the Commissioners are so stringent onthis point, as to relieve the Jury from all doubt upon thesubject.

In Class XXIV. these observations apply particularlyto plate-glass, and to crystal, in the fabrication of whichthere can be no material novelty, though beauty andmerit of a high order may be obtained. But unlessnovelty, or extraordinary merit as works of art can beshown, these sections cannot claim the highest distinction.

In the case of Messrs. Oslkr, of Birmingham , the Jurythought they were justified in recommending them for aCouncil Medal, in consequence of the general merit of theworks exhibited by them, and a novel application of theart in the crystal fountain, placed in the centre of theNave, which is good as a specimen of manufacture, moreparticularly when the magnitude of the pieces of whichit is composed, and difficulty of execution, are taken intoaccount; and though possibly the architectural designmay be capable of improvement, yet there is no doubt ofits being a work of great beauty, and of its adding verymaterially to the brilliancy aud general effect, in the con-spicuous part of the Building in which it is placed. Butthe opinion of the Jury was overruled by the Council ofChairmen, and the Council Medal withheld.

The magnitude and brilliant effect of the Building itself,which have obtained for it the denomination of theCrystal Palace , render it the first and principal object ofadmiration.

The material which forms so important a feature ofthe structure, brings it in some measure within the scopeof our Jury, and we avail ourselves of the opportunity toexpress our high sense of the merit of Mr. Paxton, whosuggested, and of Messrs. Fox, Henderson, and Co.,who have carried into execution a work so well adaptedfor the object for which it was intended ; so honourableto the ability, enterprise, and industry of British artizans,and of so much brilliancy in itself; and we heartilyconcur in the award which has been made in favour ofthese gentlemen.

A Council Medal has been awarded, on the recom-mendation of the Jury, to M. Maes, of Clichv, nearParis , for the reasons assigned in their Report, viz., theapplication of a novel chemical combination in the manu-facture of lenses for optical purposes, by means of whichglass, remarkable for its purity, brilliancy and beauty,has been produced, and exhibited by him. He claims themerit of novelty in the use of barytes of magnesia, and ofoxide of zinc, in combination with boracic acid, whichfacilitates their fusion and easy vitrification. This facilityj is of great importance, particularly in glass intended for! optical purposes; as it tends to the more perfect com-i mingling of the substances employed in the construction: of the metal ; and consequently to render it more homo-| gencous, and free from strim, bubbles, and other defects