This section is from the "Henley's Twentieth Century Formulas Recipes Processes" encyclopedia, by Norman W. Henley and others.
The feathery foams traced by frost on the inside of the windows in cold weather may be imitated as follows:
The surface is first ground either by sand-blast or the ordinary method, and is then covered with a sort of varnish. On being dried either in the sun or by artificial heat, the varnish contracts strongly, taking with it the particles of glass to which it adheres; and as the contraction takes places along definite lines, the pattern given by the removal of the particles of glass resembles very closely the branching crystals of frostwork. A single coat gives a small, delicate effect, while a thick film, formed by putting on 2, 3 or more coats, contracts so strongly as to produce a large and bold design.
By using colored glass, a pattern in half-tint may be made on the colored ground, and after decorating white glass, the back may be silvered or gilded.
Cover the glass with a layer of wax or of varnish on which the designs are traced with a graver or pen-point; next, hydrofluoric acid is poured on the tracings. This acid is very dangerous to handle, while the following process, though fur nishing the same results, does not present this drawback: Take powdered fluoride of lime, 1 part, and sulphuric acid, 2 parts. Make a homogeneous paste, which is spread on the parts reserved for the engraving or frosting. At the end of 3 or 4 hours wash with water to remove the acid, next with alcohol to take off the varnish, or with essence of turpentine if wax has been employed for stopping off.
 
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