246 FIELD AND HEDGEROW. 



mind is so exquisitely rendered in the picture that he 

 seems verily to speak with intelligence. I love that dog 

 though he does but exist in ink ; he is the true image of 

 a real dog, and his mind shines through his body. This 

 effect upon me as the spectator is produced by a clever 

 arrangement of lines upon the plate from which the 

 etching was printed, thin lines cut into the copper with 

 curious sharp tools, behind a screen of tissue-paper to 

 shield the eyes from the light, done in the calm of the 

 studio, thoughtfully, with artistic skill. Given the ori- 

 ginal genius to conceive such a dog, the knowledge how 

 to express the ideas, and the tools to work with, and we 

 see how it became possible to execute the etching. But 

 suppose the artist supplied with a piece of smooth ivory 

 for his plate, and a sharp penknife for his etching needle, 

 and set behind a boulder to watch the mammoth and 

 sketch it by incision on the ivory, and there would be 

 produced very much the same kind of picture as the 

 Cave-man made. It could not have the delicate shading, 

 the fine edge, the completion and finish of the dog ; it 

 could not visibly think as that dog thinks. It would con- 

 sist of a few quick strong dashes, conveying the weight 

 and force and image of the elephant in as few strokes as 

 possible. It would be a charcoal sketch ; broad and pow- 

 erful lines that do not themselves delineate, but compel 

 your imagination to do the picture in your mind, so that 

 you see a great deal more than is drawn. So that the 

 Cave-man was really a great artist — his intense interest 

 in the chase supplied the lack of academies and scienti- 

 fic knowledge and galleries to copy from. This primeval 

 picture thus tells you that the highly educated artist of 

 the present day, removed from his accessories, away from 

 his liquid colours, easels, canvas, prepared paper, and so 

 forth, can only do what the Cave-man did. But still 



