41 



a solution of Burgundy pitch, or mastic made in alcohol, 

 over the plate; the solution, when evaporated, leaves a 

 granulated ground. A proof from a plate so prepared 

 and subjected to the action of acid, would present under 

 a lens the appearance of an elaborate network of lines. 

 As the plate may have been more or less subjected to the 

 action of the acid, these lines will be more or less deep 

 and broad, and producing tints, in printing, from the 

 faintest stain or wash of india ink, to black. To arrest 

 the action of the acid at the proper moment, so as to 

 secure certain gradations of tint by means of "stopping 

 out" with an acid resisting varnish, and at the same time 

 to give these tints their proper form, comprises the motive 

 and effective application of aquatint. 



Etching is peculiarly a painter's art, requiring less 

 technical knowledge and more artistic capacity in the 

 practioner than any other branch of engraving. A plate 

 is prepared for etching by rubbing the burnished surface 

 with willow charcoal and water. The charcoal leaves an 

 infinite number of tine lines' or scratches in the plate, 

 which show the same appearance in the proof as a deli- 

 cate wash of india ink, and serve to tone down the obtru- 

 sive whiteness of the paper. After using charcoal the 

 plate is heated to a temperature sufficient to melt a com- 

 position of white wax, Burgundy pitch and asphaltum, 

 technically called the etching ground, which is rubbed 

 over the plate in a thin, even coat and allowed to harden. 

 The ground is then smoked to a dull, deep black, over the 

 flame of a wax taper. The artist now prepares his design 

 on thin paper, tracing the outline with soft red chalk ; he 

 then places the design face to the smoked surface of the 

 plate, and again traces the outline of the subject with a 

 sharp point of ivory or wood, and on removing the paper 

 the chalk lines are transferred to the wax ground, re- 



