The Art Glass-staining

TTcirly contf npnrnry wiïh th" reyival of Gothic architecture applied bo'.h to ecelesiastieal and secular buildings, the taste for the enrichment of snob edifices by the íntroduction oí colorea and páinted glass has revivcrt and flourishedi The secret of commnnicating to glass the exquisite and glowing colon so riehly and harm'oniously blended in the few uninjnred specimens t)mt remained in the mediscval churehesof Great Britnin, it nat absokrtely lort, was long buried in obscurityi Another most serióos impediment was the difficulty of prodttcing ;t pigment which should possess sulïicient iitiinity vith the glass to be readily incorporated with it, and jet bo capable of reduction to a consistency farorable to its nse as an ordinary kind of painting material to be laid on and ranously treated, according to the artistic noceities of the manipulator. Bul thet; and othor minor obstacles gradually disappeared bofore the searehing investigations of enthusiasts in an art that had been so long neglocted. Let us now foïïow the art of glp.ssslaining throngh 'its chief stages. The design of the window being determined upon, and the cartoon or fnll-8i.t'd drawing being preparad, a kind of skelliton drawing is made, sliowing only the lines which indícate the shape of each separate jñece of glass. It is apparently not generalij' nndoratooil that a window is not one piece of glass, to which are applied the rarious colora displaye:!, but a nnniber of small pieces, which are iinited by grooved lead, which incloses each individual fragment, and that each different color we see is the color of that particular piece of gldss, the painting material emploj-ed being the dark-brown pigment uscd to doiine the more delicate and minute details. Tho skeleton or working drawing then passes to the cutting-room, where sheets of glass of erery imaginable shade are arranged in racks, each bearing a number, by which a particular tint is known. The drawing being nnmbered on each separate piece of glass bj7 means of a frame containing all pieces of every shade, and each numbered aceording to the rack eontaining the glass of that color, the use of this frame renders unnecessary the tedions processof visiting each rack in search of the particular shade required; the glass is laid bit by bit on the drawing, and each piece is then cut to the required shape by means of a diamond. After the glass is cut, it passes to the painter, who, laying it over the drawing, traces upon it with a brush all the details of features, folds of drapery, foliage, etc, as designed bj' the artist. But as the action of the weather and continually-varyiniT conditions of the atmosphere would speedilj' remove every vcstige of paint if left in this state, it is necessary to subject the painted glass to the nction of heat by plaeing it for scveral hours in a kiln, under the intluence of which the paint is fused into absolute aflinity with the glass, and becomes absolutely ineorporatcd with its substance. Áftei thia burning proceas, it only remainsfor the different pieces to bo united with the grooved leaden framework which binds the whole togethcr. The places where the leads join are then carefully soldêred togetker, and nothing remains but to thoronghly work over the whole surface with a thick kind of cement, which filis up any iatersticea between the glass and lead, and renders the whole panel perfectly water-tight and water-proof.