I'lG. 9.— Thk Making of ax Etching. 

 From a Vi^^iiette in Abraham Busse, Be la Manil-re de G racer, Paris, 1758. 



D. ETCHING. 



Process. 



In etching, the furrow on the plate is not engraved or cut, but bitten 

 (etched — eaten) by acid. The metiiod is as follows : The polished surface 

 of the plate is first covered by a thin layer of etching-ground, i.e. a 

 composition of various waxes, gums and resins. The ground is generally 

 laid by bringing a small silk bag of the wax composition into contact 

 with the heated x^late (as shown to the right of the vignette from Bosse's 

 Maniere de Graver, fig. 9j. The melted composition is laid j evenly over 

 the surface by repeated taps with the dabber (a pad of two or three 

 inches in diameter covered with silk or kid). The grounded plate is then 

 held over lighted tapers and so blackened (a process seen imthe centre 

 of Bosse's vignette, fig. 9). Then with the etching needle (a isteel point 



Fig. 10.— The Etchixg Xeedle. 



generally set in a handle, as in fig. 10), the etcher draws through the 

 ground, opening up the surface of the copper where he wishes his lines to 

 be made. Having covered the edges and the back of the plate with 

 protecting varnish, the etcher then puts the plate into a bath of acid 

 (generally dilute nitric), taking it out when his lightest lines i are etched 

 sufficiently deep. If greater depth is required for other parts^ of the 



