with the old-established diamond, I think we should all be
glad; and if the head, wheel, and pivot were all made of the quality and
material of which fig. 1 is now made, but with the handle as I describe,
many of us, I think, would be still more glad; and if these remarks lead
in any degree to such results, they at least of all the book will have
been worth the writing, and will probably be its best claim to a white
stone in Israel, as removing one more solecism from "this so-called
twentieth century."

I shall now leave this subject of cutting for the present, and describe,
up to about the same point, the processes of painting, taking both on to
a higher stage later--as if, in fact, I were teaching a pupil; for as
soon as you can cut glass well enough to cut a piece to paint on, you
should learn to paint on it, and carry the two things on step by step,
side by side.

CHAPTER III

Painting (elementary)--Pigments--Mixing--How to Fill the
Brush--Outline--Examples--Industry--The Needle and
Stick--Completing the Outline.

The pigments for painting on glass are powders, being the oxides of
various minerals, chiefly iron. There are others; but take it thus--that
the iron oxide is a red pigment, and the others are introduced, mainly,
to modify this. The red pigment is the best to use, and goes off less in
the firing; but, alas! it is a detestably ugly _colour_, like red lead;
and, do what you will, you cannot use it on white glass. Against clear
sky it looks pretty well in some lights, but get it in a sidelight, or
at an angle, and the whole window looks like red brick; while, seen
against any background except clear sky, it always looks so from all
points of view. There are various makers of these pigments. Some
glass-painters make their own, and a beginner with any knowledge of
chemistry would be wise to work in that direction.

I need not discuss the various kinds of pigment; what follows is a
description of my own practice in the matter.

_To Mix the Pigment for Painting._--Take a teaspoonful of red
tracing-colour, and a rather smaller spoonful of intense black, put them
on a slab of thick ground-glass about 9 inches square, and drop clean
water upon them till you can work them up into a paste with the
palette-knife (fig. 18); work them up for a minute or so, till the paste
is smooth and the lumps broken up, and then add about three drops of
strong gum made from the purest white gum-arabic dis