the ground between the man and the woman, have been _over-bitten_. These
parts do not harmonize with the neighboring parts, and are stronger in
tone than the corresponding parts of the original.

To remedy this, there are four means at your command:--

The Burnisher.
Charcoal.
The Scraper.
Hammering out.

51. =The Burnisher.=--As these passages are limited in extent, and not
very deeply bitten, you may use the burnisher to reduce them. Moisten
it with saliva, and take only a small spot at a time, holding the
instrument down flat. If you were to use only the end, you might make a
cavity in the copper. The burnisher flattens and enlarges the surface of
the copper, and consequently diminishes the width of the line. The tone,
therefore, is reduced.

On fine, close, and equal work the burnisher does excellent service, the
effect being analogous to that of the crumb of bread on a design on
paper.

It is less efficacious on deeply bitten work, because it rounds off the
edges of the lines as it penetrates into the furrows, and thus detracts
somewhat from the freshness of tone,--an unpleasant result, which, in
very fine work, is beyond the power of the eye to see.

You may use the burnisher to get rid of certain spots produced in the
foliage by lines placed too closely together, and by the same means you
can reduce those exaggerated passages in the stone-work of the
right-hand column.

You can also burnish these useless little blotches in the mountains.

52. =Charcoal.=--Whenever it is necessary to reduce the whole of a
distance, the use of charcoal is to be preferred. Charcoal made of
willow, or of other soft woods, which can be had of the plate-makers, is
used flat, impregnated with oil or water; it must be freed from its
bark, as this would scratch the plate. It wears the metal away
uniformly, and does not injure the crispness of the lines. Rub the
passage to be reduced with the charcoal, regulating the length of time
by the degree of delicacy you desire to attain. At the beginning soak
your charcoal in water, so as leave it more tooth; then clean it, and
continue with oil, which reduces the wear on the copper. The eye is
sufficient to judge of the wear; the way in which the charcoal takes
hold of the copper, and the copper-colored spots which it shows, may
serve as guides. As the effectiveness of the different kinds of charcoal
varies, these divers qualities of softness and coarseness are utilized
accor