154 THE BOOK OF THE LANTERN. 



broomstick ; but careful examination shows that it is only 

 a little piece of hair about a quarter of an inch in length, 

 which is magnified into the size of the useful domestic 

 appliance just mentioned, and, what is more, these little 

 bits of hair are very difficult to remove. We may per- 

 haps; lift them with our etching-needle from the paint in 

 which they are embedded, but in doing so we are pretty 

 sure to leave scratches behind which are almost as bad as 

 the hairs. Bits of dust are everywhere, and the only way 

 in which their intrusion upon our work can be avoided is 

 to devote a room to this express purpose of slide-painting. 

 It should be uncarpeted and uncurtained, and should be 

 swept with tea-leaves, or better still, with damp saw-dust, a 

 few hours before any painting is attempted. Its table and 

 only chair should be wiped down with a damp duster, and 

 the same treatment should be applied to the window ledge, 

 or any projecting parts of the wood-work which may be 

 near the painter as he sits at his work. The artist should 

 put on a linen blouse, which is rigidly kept for this work. 

 All these precautions may seem unnecessary, but we must 

 observe them if we want to produce the best possible work. 

 I have seen slides, otherwise well executed, which were 

 quite spoiled by dust, and it is one of the aggravations of 

 the slide-painter's life, that dust always gets into the sky, 

 where, of course, it is more evident than in any other por- 

 tion of the picture. 



Let the table upon which the operator works be placed 

 near a window, preferably under a north light. This 

 table should be wiped over with a damp duster imme- 

 diately before the work is commenced, and it should be 



