“The foundry at Ravenhead wherein this table is used is said to be the largest room under one roof that has ever yet been erected in this kingdom; it is 339 feet long, 155 feet wide, and proportionately lofty. Westminster Hall, to which the superiority in this respect is so commonly ascribed, is smaller--its length being 300 and its breadth only 100 feet. The melting furnaces, which are ranged down the centre, occupy about one-third of the whole area of this apartment. The annealing ovens are placed in two rows, one on each side of the foundry, and occupy the greatest proportion of the side walls. Each of these ovens is sixteen feet wide and forty feet deep. Their floors being level with the surface of the casting table, the plates of glass may be deposited in them immediately after they are cast, with little difficulty and without delay. “When the melted glass in the cuvette is found to be in the exact state that experience has pointed out as being most favourable for its flowing readily and equably, this vessel is withdrawn from the furnace by means of a crane, and is placed upon a low carriage, in order to its removal to the casting table, which, as it is previously placed contiguous to the annealing oven that is to be filled, may therefore be at a considerable distance from the melting furnace. Measures are then taken for cleaning the exterior of the crucible, and for carefully removing with a broad copper sabre any scum that may have formed upon the surface of the glass, as the mixture of any of these foreign matters would infallibly spoil the beauty of the plate. These done, the cuvette is wound up to a sufficient height by a crane; and then, by means of another simple piece of mechanism, is swung over the upper end of the casting table; and being thrown into an inclined position, a torrent of melted glass is suddenly poured out on the surface of the table, which must previously have been heated, and wiped perfectly clean. “The glass is prevented from running off the sides of the table by ribs of metal, one of which is placed along the whole length of each side, their depth being the exact measure which it is desired to give to the thickness of the glass. A similar rib, attached to a cross piece, is temporarily held, during the casting, at the lower end of the table. When the whole contents of the crucible have been delivered, a large hollow copper cylinder, which has been made perfectly true and smooth in a turning lathe, and which extends entirely across the table, resting on the side ribs, is set in motion; and the glass, during its progress, is spread out into a sheet of uniform breadth and thickness. Its length depends upon the quantity of melted glass contained in the cuvette: should this be more than is needed for the formation of a plate having the full dimensions of the table, the metal rib is removed from its lower part, and the surplus glass is received in a vessel of water placed under the extreme end for the purpose.