The Probert Encyclopaedia of Science & Technology

FLINT-GLASS

Flint-glass is a species of glass, so called because pulverized flints were originally employed in its manufacture. It was extensively used for domestic purposes. Its dispersive power in regard to light renders it invaluable in the manufacture of the object-glasses of telescopes and microscopes, as by combining a concave lens of flint-glass with one or two convex lenses of crown-glass, which possesses much less dispersive power, a compound lens is formed in which the prismatic colours arising from simple refraction are destroyed, and the lens rendered achromatic. Quartz and fine sand were later substituted for flint in the manufacture of this glass.
Research Flint-Glass