it may freely penetrate into the copper, and not merely scratch it.
You cut the line yourself, regulating its depth by the amount of
pressure used, and according to the tone of the particular passage on
which you are working. For patching, it is more frequently used in
delicate passages than in others, as, even with great pressure, the
strength of a dry point line will always be below that of a line deeply
bitten. In printing, the dry point line has less depth of color than the
bitten line, as the acid bites into the copper perpendicularly at right
angles; while the furrow produced by the dry point, which offers only
acute angles, takes up less ink, although it appears equally broad.
This inequality disappears if a plate in which etched lines and dry
point work are intermingled is re-bitten; the difference in tone is then
equalized.

On the other hand, the difference in the appearance of etched lines and
dry point work produces curious effects. Thus, if a passage which is too
strong and appears to stand out is to be corrected, a few touches of the
dry point will be sufficient to soften it, and to push it back to
another distance.

The dry point is not only used for retouching; it is sometimes employed,
without any etching, to put in the whole background.

49. =Use of the Scraper for removing the Bur thrown up by the Dry
Point.=--The dry point work being finished, the _bur_ thrown up by the
instrument must be removed. The bur is the ridge raised on the edge of
the line, as the point ploughs through the metal; you can satisfy
yourself of its existence by the touch. In printing, the ink catches in
this ridge, and produces blots. The bur is removed by means of the
_scraper_, an instrument with a triangular blade, one of the sides of
which, held flat, is passed over the plate in the opposite direction to
that of the stroke of the point, and so as to take the line obliquely.
You need not feel any anxiety about injuring the plate; the touch will
tell you when the bur has disappeared. In the case of dry point lines
crossing one another, each set running in a different direction must be
drawn as well as scraped separately, in the manner just described;
otherwise you will run the risk of closing the lines which cross the
path of the scraper, by turning the bur down into the furrows.

50. =Reducing Over-bitten Passages.=--So much for the additions. We will
now pass on to the very opposite: the shadow thrown by the parapet, and