Mary Jean Madigan's book, Steuben Glass: An American Tradition in Crystal, (2003 ed.) describes Corning Glass Works experiments on p. 66.
"For some time Corning Glass works' chemists had been trying to achieve an optical glass that would transmit, instead of absorb, ultraviolet light. Experiments begun in the fall of 1929 yielded, by the following spring, extremely high refractive quality (approximately 1.584) that permitted the whole spectrum of a light wave, including the ultraviolet range, to pass through. This was accomplished by removing from the glass batch most of the iron impurities responsible for trapping ultraviolet light. Since minute traces of iron give glass a greenish cast, all Steuben made up to 1932 had been decolorized by the addition of manganese dioxide, which neutralized the greenish tint of the iron by imparting a slight pink color of its own. This new and pure glass required no decolorizing agent."
"Since only small amounts of the newly discovered glass - dubbed "10-M" by Corning Glass chemists -- were needed for commercial optical applications, other large volume uses were sought to increase the economy of the purifying procedures...."
I can send a photocopy of the page, if you wish.
If you'd like more detailed information, you might check with Corning's Archives -- Kris Gable.
Also, let me know and I'll do a more thorough check our our resources.
