Glass
Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline) solid material which is often transparent and has widespread practical, technological, and decorative usage in things like window panes, tableware, and optoelectronics.
The most familiar, and historically the oldest, types of glass are based on the chemical compound silica (silicon dioxide), the primary constituent of sand.
Of the many silica-based glasses that exist, ordinary glazing and container glass is formed from a specific type called soda-lime glass, composed of 75% silicon dioxide, sodium oxide from sodium carbonate, calcium oxide (also called lime), and several minor additives.
Vintage glass bottles
These two empty glass bottles, dating from the early 20th century, originally contained mineral water and used glass marbles as stoppers.
The bottles were used by the Kent-based firm D Lyle & Sons, who had a mineral water factory in Maidstone. The name is shown in raised glass on the bottle surface.
The firm also sold ale and ginger beer but not in this type of bottle. These bottles are sometimes called Codd bottles after Hiram Codd, the inventor of the marble/washer closure system for carbonated drinks.
