[MR] Barilla, Glasswort, and Sodium Carbonate

Tue Aug 6 16:41:53 PDT 2002

Greetings Lady Alianor,

    Not that there was anything to hint this..but its "m'lady" not "m'lord."
I didn't really think about it when I e-mailed :)

I am always looking for resources.  I have quite a bit of documentation but
I am always hunting for more. I have read some information on stained glass
because it does directly relate to glass bead making in period but I have
not focused on that.  I am working on the manipulation of the glass mostly
and reproducing beads from excavations.  I am working on folded glass right
now I am considering making a few attempts at coloring glass from scratch
but I haven't yet.  I have recently however used a coal forge to make some
really ugly beads (very period looking though!)  I will have the pics of
that at my class at University.  I am trying to find good information to
build a period forge for beads.  My husband and some friends have offered to
build a bead furnace if  I can get good documentation and decide what time
period to make the furnace.  I welcome any suggestions there too.

Lady Tegan de Moreton
Lora Franks

nitefall70 at hotmail.com
    .
----- Original Message -----
From: <redswanne at mindspring.com>
To: <nitefall70 at hotmail.com>; <atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 06, 2002 7:44 AM
Subject: Re: [MR] Barilla, Glasswort, and Sodium Carbonate

M'Lord Tegan,

A good source for a period glass recipe can be found in "on Divers Arts".
The Monk Theophlis gives a fair account on how it was made, also a
description on where a good place for mfg. would be.  He didn't give exact
amounts (glass making was such a well guarded secret), but it is certainly
an interesting read.  I know of one gentle who has been working on the
content proportions, and cannot wait to see the final results.

I know of a few various glass books, but they mostly pertain to the making
of stained glass, but most give, to some extent, descriptions on how it was
made for various other applications.  If you would be interested, I would
be happy to send you the titles....

In Service

Lady Alianor atte Red Swanne

Original Message:
-----------------
From: Kevin Franks nitefall70 at hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2002 01:14:12 -0400
To: atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
Subject: Re: [MR] Barilla, Glasswort, and Sodium Carbonate

Greetings,
    Thank you for pointing me in this direction.  I know very little about
chemistry except as it applies to the research I have been doing for glass.
I have found some information in my research which mentions that
Mesopotamian type glass is made from "halophytic plant ash:limestone:sand"
whereas Roman type glass is "soda:limestone:sand."  The majority of the
report deals with the chemical compositions and localities for red opaque
glass comparing copper added in metal form verses iron oxides but it does
mention plants.
There are also some achaeometry sites which have information on x-ray
fluoresence analysis, x-ray diffraction, electron probe microanalysis and
scanning electron microscopy of Merovingian glass.  I haven't decifered all
of that info yet, but I'm working on it. :)

Tegan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Towey, Brian" <cbt4489 at glaxowellcome.com>
To: "SCA Atlantia List" <atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2002 2:37 PM
Subject: [MR] Barilla, Glasswort, and Sodium Carbonate

> Friends and neighbors,
>
> Last year we had a spirited discussion of medieval chemistry, especially
of
> lye and quick lime.
>
> Noting that sodium carbonate is an important ingredient in glass
> manufacture, I wondered where medieval Europe might have gotten it by the
> ton.  All the way from the Wadi Natron in Egypt?  That seemed unlikely.  A
> chemist on the list assured us that there was no industrial synthesis by
> which glassmakers could have made sodium carbonate from, say, other
> carbonates such as limestone.
>
> So, where did they get it?
>
> I stumbled across a clue while browsing a list of occupational names.
That
> and some dictionary cross-references gave me the following picture:
>
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
> Barillaro, Barillari, occupational names: burners of saltwort for making
> glass and ceramics
>
> Barilla, n. - Saltwort ash
>
> Glasswort, n 1: bushy plant of Old World salt marshes and sea beaches
having
> prickly leaves; burned to produce a crude soda ash [syn: saltwort,
barilla,
> kali, kelpwort, Salsola kali, Salsola soda] 2: fleshy maritime plant
having
> fleshy stems with rudimentary scalelike leaves and small spikes of minute
> flowers; formerly used in making glass [syn: samphire, Salicornia
europaea]
>
> King Lear, Act IV, Scene vi:
>   Come on, sir; here's the place: stand still. How fearful
>   And dizzy 'tis, to cast one's eyes so low!
>   The crows and choughs that wing the midway air
>   Show scarce so gross as beetles: half way down
>   Hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade!
>
> Salsola \Sal"so*la\, n. [NL., fr. L. salsus salt, because they contain
> alkaline salts.] (Bot.) A genus of plants including the glasswort.
>
> Soda ash, crude sodium carbonate; -- so called because formerly obtained
> from the ashes of sea plants and certain other plants, as saltwort
> (Salsola).
>
> And here's the kicker....
>
> alkali [Arab., al-gili=ashes of saltwort] The term alkali originally
applied
> to salts obtained from plant ashes and is sometimes applied to a carbonate
> of sodium or potassium...
>
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
> Mystery solved!
>
> Your servant,
>
> Charles Fleming
> "Miror Otium Negotium Multum Requirere"
>
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