FOLIATING OR LOOKING-GLASSES, the process of covering the glass with amalgam, in order that it may reflect the image. The method, as practised at the largest looking-glass manufactory in Britain, at St Helen's in Lancashire, is as follows:—On a smooth and level table of stone or iron with a slightly elevated border, mercury is poured in a thin stratum: the mercury is covered with tinfoil; and the glass-plate, previously well cleaned, is slowly slid along the metallic surface, so as to exclude air-bubbles: weights are then placed on the glass, to make its contact with the amalgam of tin and mercury more complete. The amalgam soon adheres to the plate, which is then raised on its edge to allow the superfluous mercury to drain off. It is then carried to the drying-room—and the process is complete.