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ENGLISH CHANNEL ENGRAVING. 



ENGLISH CHANNEL (called by the French 

 la Manc/ie) is that part of the Atlantic ocean which 

 lies between the north-west coast of France and the 

 southern coast of England. Its eastern extremity is 

 connected with the German ocean by the straits of 

 Calais, and m the west it is imperceptibly confounded 

 with the Atlantic ocean. It lies between lat. 48 

 3& and 51 N., and Ion. 1 2<X E. and 5 43* W. 

 At its termination on a line drawn from Land's 

 End to the extreme easterly point of the department 

 of Finisterre, in France it is about 40 leagues wide. 

 On the French coast, it forms three considerable 

 bays; the most easterly receives the Somme; the 

 second receives the Seine and several smaller rivers ; 

 the third and largest lies on the south-west of the 

 peninsula of Cotentin. On the English coast, is 

 Mount bay, between Lizard point and Land's End ; 

 between Lizard point and Start point is a large gulf, 

 on which are situated Falmouth and Plymouth ; the 

 gulf of Exeter lies on the east of Start point. The 

 principal islands in the English channel are the Isle 

 of Wight on the English coast, and the Norman islands 

 lying on the French coasts, but belonging to England, 

 the principal of which are Guernsey andJersey. The 

 prevailing winds are from the west. The channel, 

 being shallow and confined, is subject, from its com- 

 munication with the Atlantic, to high and impetuous 

 tides. Its waters contain many fish, of which the 

 most important are the mackerel and the herring. 

 The oysters of Cancal are also famous. 



ENGRAVING is the art of representing, by means 

 of lines and points produced on a metallic surface 

 by cutting, by the aid of an instrument called a gra- 

 ver, the figures, lights, and shades of objects, in 

 order to multiply them by a printing press. This 

 is the limited sense of the word, but it is now used 

 in a more comprehensive sense, and includes all 

 objects depicted on copper, steel, or other metal, 

 whether produced by means of cutting or corrosion. 

 The engraver is to the painter what the translator 

 is to the author. As it is impossible to give a spi- 

 rited translation of a work of genius without a por- 

 tion of the author's fire, so it is essential to a good 

 engraver that he should feel and understand the 

 character of his original, and be initiated into the 

 art of drawing, that his copy may be at once cor- 

 rect and spirited ; and but for the invention of this 

 art, the larger mass of mankind must have remained 

 ignorant of the inestimable pictures of all the great 

 masters ; and by its process of multiplying, one can 

 now enjoy a representation of them in our homes. 

 The art of engraving on copper was invented in 

 Europe in the first halt of the fifteenth century. The 

 Chinese seem to have been acquainted with it long 

 before. The Dutch, the Italians, and the Germans, 

 compete for the honour of its invention in Europe. 

 It is known that the art was exercised by the Italian 

 Finiguerra as early as 1460. The oldest print, bear- 

 ing a date, is of the year 1461. The inventors of it 

 were the goldsmiths, who were in the habit of mak- 

 ing devices on their wares ; and these, being often 

 executed with much elegance, excited the desire 

 to multiply copies by transferring them to paper. 

 Engraving differs from printing in raving its subjects 

 cut into a hard surface, instead of being raised 

 above it, as is the case with types and wood cuts. 

 Many metals and alloys have been employed for the 

 purpose of engraving. The most common is copper, 

 which is soft enough to be cut when cold, and hard 

 enough to resist the action of the press. 



We shall now proceed to explain the methods of 

 executing different descriptions of engraving. The 

 graver, an instrument of steel, is principally used in 

 engravings on copper and steel; it is square for 

 cutting broad lines, and lozenge for the finest, and 



must be tempered to that exact state, which will 

 prevent the point from breaking or wearing by its 

 action on the metal. The graver is inserted in a 

 handle of hardwood, resembling a pear with a lon- 

 gitudinal slice cut off, which is to enable the artist 

 to use it flat on the plate, his fingers and thumb 

 being plated on each side of the handle, but never 

 extending round to the belly or cutting part of the 

 graver, which must always be pushed forward in a 

 direction nearly parallel to the surface of the plate. 

 The end of the handle leans against the back part 

 of the palm of the hand, by which it is forced for- 

 ward, in such a manner as to cut a line of the depth 

 required. The scraper is a long, triangular piece of 

 steel, tapering gradually from the handle to the 

 point ; the three edges produced by this form being 

 sharpened on the oil-stone, are used for scraping off 

 the roughness or barb occasioned by the graver, and 

 also for erasing erroneous lines. The burnisher is 

 a third instrument of steel, hard, round, and highly 

 polished, for rubbing out punctures or scratches in 

 the copper. The oil-stone which engravers have 

 found best adapted for the purpose, is Turkey stone, 

 but some use a hone for sharping the belly of the 

 graver, and also for giving a finer edge to the scra- 

 per. The etching needle or point, is used either for 

 etching lines on a ground, which are afterwards 

 deepened into the metal by corrosive acids ; or it is 

 used for producing delicate lines by means of pressure, 

 which is termed dry-pointing. It is held in the fingers 

 in the same way as a pen or pencil. Another instru- 

 ment of great importance is the parallel square or rule. 

 This is not only used for ruling a succession of 

 straight lines, in the operation of etching or dry- 

 pointing, but also for waved or curved lines. It 

 serves as a guide, and contributes in an eminenc 

 degree to steady the hand. Various kinds of 

 varnish, resin, wax, charcoal, and acids, are also 

 employed in different parts of the operation, accord- 

 ing to the subject, and the style of engraving which 

 is adopted. The first which we shall describe is 



Etching. The art of etching was discovered 

 some time after that of engraving. In the earlier 

 state of engraving, the subject to be represented was 

 drawn in outline on a piece of paper, with a black 

 lead pencil, and then transferred to the surface of the 

 copper, silver, or other metal. This was accom- 

 plished by first heating the metal, and then rubbing 

 its surface over with a thin coating of bees' wax, and 

 when the metal had become quite cold, the pencil 

 outline was laid on it, and rubbed on the back with 

 a burnisher, until it was transferred to the surface of 

 the metal. The outline was then scratched on the 

 metal with an etching point, or needle, the wax 

 rubbed off, and the subject finished with a graver. 

 This process is still adhered to in the engraving of 

 letters, silver plate, &c. After the invention of etch- 

 ing, however, this practice was discontinued by the 

 French, Italian, and English artists, who have long 

 been in the habit of commencing all engravings by 

 the more speedy and free process of etching. 



Etching is the art of giving a pictorial representa- 

 tion of any object on a metal plate, on which a ground 

 has been previously laid, capable of resisting the 

 action of acids. This ground consists of the follow- 

 ing composition : white-wax, 2 oz. ; Burgundy 

 pitch, 5 oz.; black pitch, ^ oz.; and asphaltum, 2 

 oz. The three former are put into a crucible, and 

 melted over a slow fire, and the asphaltum, after 

 having been reduced to a fine powder, is then added, 

 being the composition stirred all the while. When 

 these substances have properly incorporated, the 

 ground is poured into cold water, and formed into 

 balls about the size of a walnut, and each rolled into 

 a piece of silk, ready for use. In laying the ground, 



