THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
7 
But for wood engravings such as you see in 
the Young Scientist and Illustrated books, 
the pictures are made on boxwood, and on the 
end of the grain. The wood is sawed across 
the grain into slices, so that when smoothed 
and prepared for use, fhe slices are as thick as 
type is high, which is fifteen-sixteenths of an 
inch. 
Fig. 3. 
We will now suppose some boy or girl has a 
well-seasoned piece of any of the above named 
woods, sawed, and evenly planed and scraped 
to the right thickness. It is not necessary to 
plane both sides of the slices, — the sawing 
should be true, however. The next step will 
be to take a piece of pumice stone, with one 
side ground off flat. Grind the pumice stone 
on a brick or slab of stone, by rubbing it a 
short time. Wet the planed side of the wood, 
a little, and with the pumice stone smooth and 
polish the surface, being careful that specks of 
grit or the edges of the pumice stone, do not 
make scratches. Do not use too much water, 
or the block will swell and warp, and perhaps 
crack. Use just enough water to let the pum- 
ice stone pass easily over the surface. Use the 
pumice stone lightly, that is, do not bear down 
heavily on the surface, and when there is fine 
ground wood mixed with the water, rinse it 
off. If the surface needs farther rubbing, go 
over it with the pumice stone again, but do not 
work with a paste of ground wood and water 
accumulated on the surface — keep the block 
free. If the block has been well planed and 
scraped, the " pumicing " ought to be quickly 
done. The object is to remove any slight in- 
equalities or shiny places left by the plane. 
While the block is yet damp, take some fine 
white lead, quite free from grit, and dust a 
little on the block, or use prepared water color 
white, or an enameled card may be rubbed 
over the damp surface and the enamel will 
come off. Then with your fingere distribute 
the white carefully over the whole surface, so 
as to make a very thin even coat of white— so 
thin that it will show the wood through it, 
while it is wet, and when it is dry it will be 
white enough. Set the block on its edge to 
dry — not near a fire, or in the sunshine — let it 
dry slowly. The blocks should always be 
placed on their edges, there being less danger 
of warping than if laid on their surfaces. We 
whiten the blocks because the pencil "takes 
hold" better than on the bare wood, and also 
because the drawing shows more clearly. 
When the block is dry, the next step is to 
draw the picture or design on the wood. We 
have the design before us on paper, it may be 
a sketch only in outlines, or it may be a shaded 
picture. Cover the drawing with a piece of 
tracing paper, the best kind of which is very 
transparent. Fasten it so that it will not slip, 
the most convenient way is with yellow bees- 
wax, several small scales being used. It is 
best to have the picture lying on a drawing- 
board, and fastened so there will be no danger 
of slipping while tracing the outlines. The 
points used by draughtsmen are very conveni- 
ent, or mucilage or beeswax can be brought 
into service. Trace all the outlines of the pic- 
ture on the tracing paper with a moderately 
soft pencil — the grade HB is very good. Have 
the point of the pencil long and sharp. After 
cutting it with a knife to the shape needed, the 
point can be finished by rubbing it on a piece 
of fine sand-paper, or a fine file. It may be re- 
pointed in the same manner, as often as is ne- 
cessary during the process of tracing. After 
tracing the outline very carefully, loosen the 
tracing paper and lay it face downwards, on 
the prepared block. Fasten the edges' to the 
side of the block, either with mucilage or bees-* 
wax, whichever is most convenient. With "a 
metal or ivory point (an old-fashioned stiletto 
is good), or a hard pencil, retrace the pencil 
outline, which will show very distinctly against 
the whitened surface of the block. 
Dr. Abel, the Berlin correspondent, hag 
been lately staying with Lord Beaconsfield at 
Hughenden Manor. Dr. Abel is known to read 
and translate upward of seventy different lan- 
guages, and though a German by birth, yet his 
English writing is clear in meaning, simple in 
diction, and polished in style. 
