I believe the silver glass metallic powder is used in art glass applications to add color and texture with reflective properties...

http://rfid-crp.com/

http://www.crescentbronze.com/

http://www.etsy.com/listing/59972608/metallic-grey-fine-silver-glass-earrings

Boric acid has many uses...

http://www.amazon.com/Boric-Acid-Powder-12-Oz/product-reviews/B000NB3W7O

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-boric-acid.htm

That information helps, but how can I verify what exactly is in the container? The substance looks like tiny mirrors, oval shaped, thin, flat. All look the same size and shape, about one sixteenth of an inch long, and transparent.

Well unless you have a friend, whose has access to some sophisticated test equipment, I don't see any cost effective way....Possibly mass spectrometry , electron diffraction....maybe contact somebody at a university in the materials science dept...

http://msen.tamu.edu/aboutus/labfacilities.html

What I am trying to determine is the silver content(if any). Also, I have been advised that as an antiquated product it may be useful and/or valuable but that I would have to verify the contents. I have read recently that metallic glass is being used in nanotechnology however I have no idea as to where it comes from or the value, or if this sample is still usable. Either way, I have no intention of disposing the sample, and will hang on to it even if its not usable.

Well if you want to find out the value of something, put it on Ebay....but of course if you don't want to sell it, you might contact someone who deals in metallic glass, as a starting point, then look for the oldest guy in the company...and so on..

E bay is out of the question. You have to have a credit card and I refuse to have one. I do want to sell it but not until I learn a bit more about it. Thanks.

Take a picture and post it. This ,"_" looks like about 1/16 inch to me.

One use could be pesticides.

For the boric acid? Or both? The small 2 ounce container, medicinally pure, I would think that would rule out pesticides. I mean if your killing bugs what would be the point of having poison "medicinally pure"? Thanks for the reply, I appreciate every word.

Both in the proper portions can be used to treat infection of wounds.

Just as in proper portions the can kill pests.

What ever the use 80 years ago it maybe that was the easiest form to acquire them in. Could have acquired them from the local store that had a pharmacy.

In addition to pesticide and medicinal purposes, boric acid can be used as a flux agent for brazing and soldering.

I have mixed boric acid with a bit of honey to get rid of carpenter ants in the house. A drop of honey and boric acid paste pushed into the ant hole and they will disappear. I understand the workers take this treat to the queen. When the queen dies often the nest will also die.

I have also used it as a soldering flux for plumbing repairs with some success, but since my soldering skills are a bit suspect I am curious if anyone else can substantiate this use.

My guess is the reason these are stored together is there was intent to use boric acid flux to prep a surface for the glass beads?

Possibly the "Silver Glass Metallics Fine" is the stuff that they used to use to make mirrors or the iridescent sheen found on hand-fired decorative glass and ceramics. However unless you broke the seal on those containers how do you know if the contents match the label? You also don't know if it has decomposed into something unstable that is just waiting for a mechanical shock to detonate it, or disperse into the air so that you can inhale it. Contact your local college's chemistry department and see if some curious professor will take a look at it before your home becomes an EPA Superfund site!

Detonate? Disperse? I opened the container, there is no seal. I poured the contents into a plastic cup and weighed it, then returned it to the container. The substance is not powder but very small, uniform bits of shiny looking stuff resembling glass. I am going to attempt to take a couple photos with the camera that is built into the computer and post them. Here goes. Sorry, its not working. I am 100% disabled and this is very difficult for me. I opened the can again to try to get a picture of the contents and looking closely I was mistaken in my description, the contents appear to be very small bits of broken glass, flat, very thin, irregular but uniform in size. and resemble pyrite. Like fools gold. It does not appear to be decomposed in any way, and if it was unstable Im sure it would have blown me to bits long ago. I suppose if one was to purposely try to inhale some they might be sucessful, but thats not happening here. I live alone out in the desert so to take the sample to the city would require arranging for transportation as well as a helper and I cant see going through all that trouble for something that may be worthless.

Boric Acid can be found now as a roach pesticide. Pharmaceutical grade Boric Acid can be used as a eye wash.

Actually, I have used some of the boric acid as an eyewash.(one teaspoon to one half cup boiling water, cool then use)

Thats fantastic! Have you used silver glass as I described? Is one pound a lot or a little? Have you read or heard about using metallic glass in nanotechnology? I have about a hundred more questions but I will wait on your reply so I can narrow down the feild a bit. Thanks!

We use lead glass frits rather than silver. I don't know about nanotechnology uses. A pound of frit is a lot, we buy perhaps 100g (about 4oz) at a time.

I believe that glass frits are also used for glazing ceramics but don't know much about this, might be worth a bit of research.

Im not familiar with the term "Frits" is that a term used to describe size, or possibly content?

It's the generic name for the material (The origin of the word "frit" dates back to 1662 according to the OED as " a calcinated mixture of sand and fluxes ready to be melted in a crucible to make glass) that is used to join metals to glasses or ceramics. Fritting is the joining process.

Can you tell us how you came to have these items? Perhaps that would help to narrow down the search.

They were given to me years ago by a freind. I am a notorious packrat and my house is full of strange things. Over the course of the last year I have hauled about 70 tons of metal to the scrapyard just from my back yard. Just about anything you can think of, I probobly have one.

Time to call American Pickers.

http://www.history.com/shows/american-pickers

Back in the 1920s, they liked everything to sparkle. The glass metallics could very well be sequins. One possible way that they could have been used together, is that boric acid was used to soak candle wicks to prolong burn time. Sequins were used to make highly decorative, fancy candles and would be impregnated in the outer layer of wax. Did they belong to a candle maker?

That is amazing! The 2 containers were given to me years ago by a freind who was cleaning up a residence of a deceased person. I have no idea who it was or what they did. Very good information, thank you

...and they used materials that could be radioactive. They didnt know much about it back then.Common consumer items were radioactive back then, radium in particular.

Make sure it doesnt glow in the dark!

somehow that did not quite go through, could you try again? Im interested in anything you can tell me