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 
