e open furnace,
and with another simple instrument makes an indentation in the outer
circle, nearly the size of that one sees at the bottom of a wine-bottle.
His colleague, meanwhile, has done exactly the same to another ball of
glass, and as they both press their balls together, the two outer
circles merge into one, and the air inside the hollow spaces is
completely shut off. Now the workmen draw back the iron rods, which are
still attached to the hot mass, and a glass thread is seen connecting
them to the centre ball. Then, keeping the strictest military time, the
glass-blowers march off in opposite directions, to about the distance of
a hundred yards, and the glowing glass thread spins itself off from both
balls, until it is exhausted, or until the cold air hardens it. The
imprisoned air has likewise, however, been spun out, and thus a hollow
pipe, instead of a solid rod, has been formed, and so prepared the hole
for the future beads.

The glass threads vary in thickness, from that of a pencil to that of a
very thin knitting-needle. Those intended for beads of mixed colours are
drawn out just in the same way, the only difference being that in that
case the glass ball, as soon as it is taken from the furnace, is dipped
in various coloured masses of liquid glass, which then form layers, one
over the other, like the layers of an onion.

Sometimes, very tiny lumps of coloured glass are stuck on the glass
balls, which then form parti-coloured stripes on the glass threads. The
separating and sorting of the threads or pipes, which are now broken up
into lengths of about three feet, is a widely-spread home-industry in
Venice, and if we go down to the lower parts of the Lagoon city, where
the people dwell, we shall see numbers of women and children seated
before large baskets, out of which glass pipes protrude like the quills
of a gigantic porcupine. With fingers spread wide apart, they carefully
weigh and feel the contents of the baskets, till they have sorted all
the pipes, according to their sizes. The different bundles are then
carried back to the factory, where they are placed in a machine, not
unlike a chaff-cutter, and cut up into small pieces. It is amusing to
watch the coloured shower as it falls. Do not be afraid, but just place
your hand beneath, to catch the glittering stream, and it will almost
seem as if you had taken hold of a shower of hailstones.

Any pointed or jagged bits having been cut off, the beads ar