Exhibit 99.2

                                 NEWS RELEASE



CONTACT   Dorothy C. Wackerman          Norton Company
          610-341-7428                  750 E. Swedesford Road
                                        Valley Forge, Pennsylvania 19482


                            FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

            NORTON COMPANY COMPLETES TENDER OFFER FOR FURON COMPANY

October 25, 1999 -- Valley Forge, PA -- Norton Company, an indirect wholly owned
subsidiary of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain (Paris, France), today announced the
successful completion of its tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of
common stock of Furon Company (NYSE: FCY) at $25.50 per share, net to the seller
in cash. The offer expired, as scheduled, at 12:00 midnight (EDT) on Friday,
October 22, 1999.

As of the expiration of the offer, based on preliminary information from the
depositary for the offer, approximately 96% of the outstanding shares of Furon
common stock had been tendered. Norton has accepted for payment all validly
tendered shares. Payment for the accepted shares will be made on October 27,
1999.

Norton and Furon will now proceed to complete a merger pursuant to which Furon
Company will become an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Norton Company. As a
result of the merger, each share of Furon common stock that was not tendered in
the tender offer will be converted into the right to receive $25.50 in cash,
without interest, subject to appraisal rights. The merger is expected to be
completed by the end of November.

Furon is a leading designer, developer and manufacturer of highly engineered
products made primarily from specially formulated high-performance polymer
materials.

Norton Company is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Compagnie de Saint-
Gobain. A worldwide manufacturer serving a broad range of industries, Norton is
the world's leading manufacturer of abrasives, and produces technologically
advanced ceramics, plastics and chemical process products. Norton's performance
plastics business unit processes high-performance plastics which are formed into
flexible foams, bearings, flexible tubing, radomes, pressure sensitive tapes,
labware fittings, sealants and films.

Saint-Gobain, one of the top 100 industrial companies in the world, is a leading
producer of flat glass, glass containers, insulation, reinforcements, building
materials, abrasives, industrial ceramics and piping. The company's 1998 sales
totaled approximately $20 billion.

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