Parallel rulers are for drawing parallel 
lines very readily; they are made of two 
pieces of ebony fastened together by brass 
bars, so as always to move parallel to each 
other. They may be bought of different 
kinds and prices, at the mathematical in- 
strument-makers’. See Instrument, ma- 
thematical. 
T-squares are rulers made in the form of 
the letter T, which are used with the draw- 
ing-boards ; the short end, called the stock, 
being applied to the edge of the board, so as 
to slide forwards and backwards, while the 
long part, called the blade, is used for draw- 
ing lines by. These are more convenient 
than parallel rulers, when a drawing-board is 
used, as by them you draw' lines at right 
angles to each other at once, without using 
the compasses. 
Dividing-compasses are instruments of 
brass and steel, tor dividing lines, and laying 
down measures from scales, &c. They are* ge- 
nerally sold in cases, containing also a steel 
pen, for drawing lines cleaner than can be 
done by a common pen, which is very useful 
where neatness is required ; and points with a 
black-lead pencil, for putting into the com- 
passes, when circles are to be described. 
These cases also contain scales of equal parts, 
such as are described under Geometry, 
and protractors for laying down angles. All 
these may be had at the instrument-makers’. 
Black-lead pencils are made of a mineral 
substance called plumbago, or black-lead, 
which is a carburet of iron, sawed into slips, 
and fitted into sticks of cedar. They are of 
various qualities: the best are fine, without 
any grit, not too soft, and that cut easily 
without breaking. An inferior kind is made, 
by mixing up the dust of black-lead with 
gum or glue, and forming a composition, 
which is fitted into sticks in the same manner 
as the best : these are always gritty, and do not 
answer so well for most drawings, yet, being 
cheaper, they may be used upon many occa- 
sions. It is necessary to examine pencils be- 
fore any quantity is” bought, by cutting one 
of them, because the composition-pencils, 
having the same outward appearance, are 
often sold for the best. 
Indian rubber, or elastic gum, as it is also 
called, is a substance very much like leather, 
which has the curious’ and useful property of 
erasing or defacing lines drawn with black- 
lead ; it is therefore much used for this pur- 
pose. It is brought chiefly from South Ame- 
rica, in the form of small bottles, which are 
cut up into slips. It is originally the juice 
of a tree that grows very abundantly in Suri- 
nam, and is like milk when exuded” from the 
tree, but soon becomes solid when exposed 
to the air. The natives form balls of clay, 
which they smear over with this milk ; when 
this coating is almost dry, they apply an- 
other, and so on, till it is of the required thick- 
ness; they then moisten the clay with water, 
which does not dissolve the Indian rubber, 
and wash it out. These bottles are used 
by the natives for containing water, or other 
liquors. It is a production common to the 
Tast Indies also, whence it is imported in 
various forms, more convenient for use than 
the bottles above-mentioned. See Caout- 
chouc. 
Indian ink. This very useful substance 
comes from China, where it is used for com- 
mon writing, which is there performed with 
DRAWING. 
a brush instead of a pen. It is a solid sub- 
stance, of a brownish-black colour ; and the 
composition is not known, but is conjectured 
to be the gall of a species of cuttle-lish. When 
ground up with water upon a clean tile or 
earthenware plate, it may be made either 
lighter or darker, as required, by adding tq 
it more or less water. The best Indian ink is 
always stamped with Chinese characters, 
breaks with a glossy fracture, and feels 
smooth, and not gritty, when rubbed against 
the teeth. An inferior kind is made in this 
country, but it may be easily known by its 
grittiness. This is made of” lamp-black or 
ivory-black, ground up with gum. 
Hair-pencils are made of camel’s hair, put 
into a goose or swan’s quill. To choose 
these, moisten them a little, and if they come 
to a point without splitting, they are good; 
if they do not, they are not fit for drawing 
with. The brushes used by the Chinese, 
made of a white hair fitted up in reeds, are 
very excellent for drawing, being much su- 
perior for landscapes and many other pur- 
poses, to ours made of camel’s hair, as they 
are more elastic. They are not sold here in 
common, but they may sometimes be met 
with. 
Charcoal is used for slightly sketching 
the outlines of figures, in order to get the 
proportions, previous to making a drawing in 
chalk. I he best charcoal for this purpose is 
that of the w illow ; it is cut into slips, and the 
strokes made with it may easily be rubbed 
out with a feather of goose’s or duck’s wing. 
Black-chalk is a fossil substance, resem- 
bling slaty coal, which is cut into slips for draw- 
ing. It is generally used in an instrument 
called a port-crayon, which is made either of 
steel or brass. It is much employed for draw- 
ing figures, and is the best substance for this 
purpose, in making drawings from plaister, 
or after the life, it is more gritty than black 
lead, but is of a deeper black, and has not 
the glossiness of the former. It is of two 
kinds, French and Italian : the former is soft, 
the latter hard. 
For mellowing and softening the shadows 
into each other, when black chalk is used, 
stumps are necessary. They are pieces of 
soft shamoy leather, or blue paper, rolled up 
quite tight, and cut to a point. 
White chalk is used, together with black, 
for laying on the lights. This is different 
from common chalk, being much harder. 
Tobacco-pipe clay will do very well instead 
of it. 
•Red chalk is a fossil substance of a red 
ochrey colour, which is sometimes used for 
drawing, but not so much now as it formerly 
was, the black being preferred; however, the 
red being cheaper, w ill do very well for some 
purposes. 
Drawing-paper. Any paper that will do 
for writing will do for drawing ; but as the 
w ire-marks in common writing-paper are inju- 
rious, paper made without any wire-marks, 
called wove-paper, is generally used for this 
purpose. It is made of various sizes and 
thickness. 
Middle-tint paper, is paper of a brownish 
or of a grey colour, which is used for drawing 
upon with black and white chalk. Being of 
a dark colour, the strokes of the white chalk 
are distinctly seen; and it saves a great deal 
of time in making draw ings, as the tint of the 
paper answers for the half-shadow, so that all 
4 A 2 
55 . 5 
that is necessary to be done is to lay in the 
dark shadows and the lights. 
'1 o proceed to directions for the practice of 
these rules, and the use of the materials which 
have been mentioned. 
Mechanical Drawing . — In giving instruc- 
tions for the study of drawing, attention must 
be paid to the particular branch of this art, to 
which the student wishes most to apply him- 
self. If circumstances lead him to the study 
of architecture, machinery, or the delinea- 
tion of objects perfectly regular ; and if he 
wishes to draw' plans, elevations, sections, &c. 
then geometry will form the entire foundation 
of all his future acquirements. The study of 
perspective necessarily follows, and with 
these tw r o sciences he must be intimately ac- 
quainted. To these he must add a know r - 
ledge of the doctrines of the reflection of rave 
of light; since not only the outlines of regular 
objects may be drawn correctly and truly, 
by the rules of geometry and "perspective, 
but even the forms and intensity of the va- 
rious parts of the shadows of such objects 
may be found by certain and invariable rules, 
founded upon the principles of the reflection 
of the rays of light; and geometrical draw- 
ings should always be shadowed according to 
these .rules. The materials and instruments 
necessary in this sort of drawing have been 
already described. 
Pencils of black-lead are used for drawing 
the outlines, previous to their being drawn 
with ink, as it has the advantage of being 
easily rubbed out by the Indian rubber, 
when false lines are made. The Indian ink 
is rubbed down upon a plate or tile, and may 
be put into the drawing-pen belonging to the 
case of instruments, with a pen or hair-pencil. 
'Phis ink is better to draw the lines with than 
common ink, the latter being liable to run, or 
spread, when the drawing is shadow ed. 
Having completed the outlines, ludian-ink 
is used for shadow ing, as it may be diluted 
with water, so as to be of any required dark- 
ness, and may be softened off, where the ob- 
jects require it, with water only and a hair- 
pencil. This branch of drawing urn consider 
as a useful rather than an ornamental art. It 
should be learned by every person, as an- 
swering the same purposes with writing, but 
in a much more perfect manner, in those 
cases to which it is applicable. This is par- 
ticularly striking in descriptions of apparatus, 
and machinery of every kind. If, very one 
must be sensible how' imperfect are all” writ 
ten descriptions of those objects; whereas a 
drawing conveys, at a single glance, more 
satisfactory information than it is possible to 
give by words. In the first rudiments of 
drawing, that is, in drawing geometrical 
figures and others of similar forms, genius 
and taste therefore have nothing to do : this 
degree of art is merely of a mechanical na- 
ture, which, iike writing, may be acquired by* 
every person possessed of moderate talents. 
Drawing of flowers, fruits, herbs, trees, 
— This lirst advance in art is so easy as («* 
require little else than strict attention to- 
imitate the objects placed before. the eye, ob- 
serving well those particularities which give 
the peculiar character of each, and mark the 
distinctness of the several species. In trees 
especially, care is to be taken that the oak, 
ash, elm, &c. &rc. may each have its proper 
and distinct trunk, boughs, and foliage, in such 
a manner, that it shall be no more possible tw 
