A most interesting fact, which confirms this theory, will be found in a translation made from Hebrew to Arabic of a work which treats of the virtues of precious stones, _Lapidario_ [MS. Biblioteca del Escorial], quoted by Rico y Sinobas in "Almanaque de la Industria," 1873. We do not know exactly when the author Abolais lived, but in the prologue to this MS. it is mentioned that D^{n}. Alfonso el Sabio found this book at Toledo, and gave orders to a Jew called Juda Mosca, and a priest, Garci Perez, to translate it into Spanish. The translation was terminated in 1250. Technical details are given in this volume concerning the substances which are employed in glass making, and some of the minerals found in Spain which are used in painting or enamelling it, but as this work was written to explain the properties of minerals, as they were understood in the author's time, he does not enter into any interesting details, or describe the forms of these objects. Another allusion to glass making in Spain will be found in Al Makkari, the Arabian author of "Mohamedan Dynasties in Spain," [London, 1840, 2 vols. 4to], who quotes an Oriental writer of the 13th century, who says, "Almeria was also famous for the fabrication of all sorts of vases and utensils, whether of iron, copper, or glass." (Vol. I. p. 51.) The tradition of this industry has been undoubtedly preserved at Almeria until the present day, for in this province, and in the adjoining villages of the province of Granada, we find that specimens are to be met with, which possess a marked Oriental form, and are completely free from the influence of Italian models which existed in other localities. The most characteristic specimens consist of jars of two, four and eight handles, bowls with ribs and handles, pilgrim's bottles, etc., of which interesting examples exist at the South Kensington Museum. Woodcuts of several of these are given. All these objects are decorated with a serrated ornamentation of buttons, trellis-work, and the lines to which I have already alluded which were placed there after the object was made, in the Roman style. The paste is generally of a dark green colour, and when we find these same features in vessels of white clear glass, we may affirm that they are contemporary imitations made at Cadalso or elsewhere, for they are very seldom to be met with in the provinces of Almeria and Granada, and are generally found at Toledo and other localities; it is, moreover, a common condition of Oriental art that its general form complies with a geometrical tracery, and we never find as in Italian works of art, forms and capricious ornamentations which interfere with the symmetry of the general lines, and sacrifice them to the beauty of the whole. [Illustration: GLASS VASE.--SPANISH, 16TH CENTURY.]