Page:Blackwood's Magazine volume 001.djvu/131

 engraving with the same ease with which he uses the pencil on paper; and, secondly, the circumstance of his being enabled to have any number of copies taken at less than half the expense of ordinary copperplate printing

Nothing equal, it is true, to the tone, or minute elegance of the best line engraving can be produced, but an inspection of the works already mentioned, will show how admirably it is adapted to represent objects of a picturesque description, natural history, outlines, anatomical subjects, plans, &c. It is also applicable to the purpose of multiplying writings, as the subject can be written on the prepared paper, afterwards transferred to the stone, and then printed without delay, at no further expense than the printing. In this way all the proclamations of the state at Munich are made public.

Directions.—A slate of white lias (Bath stone), about one inch thick, must be made perfectly level, and polished with very fine sand. The subject is then drawn on the stone with a common pen, and a prepared liquid of the consistence of common ink, and with the same facility; after this the stone is washed over with diluted nitric acid, which slightly corrodes that part of the stone only which has not been drawn on with the pen. The liquid is made with gum lac, dissolved in ley of pure soda, with a little soap, and coloured with lamp black. The liquid upon the stone., after the design is drawn, must be allowed to dry for about four days, and then soaked in water till perfectly saturated; in this state (with the water on the surface), a common printing ball is dabbed over it as in type printing. This ink adheres to such parts as have been drawn upon, the other parts of the stone being wet, repel the printing ink; the impression is then taken, by passing it through a press with a single cylinder. When the print is wished to resemble a chalk drawing, the stone is left rather rough, by using a coarser sand to polish it; and instead of the ink and pen being used, a crayon made of the same materials (only with a larger quantity of the lamp black) is applied in the same manner as a pencil. There is another method by which it may be done, namely, by covering the stone over with a thin mixture of gum water and lamp black, and after it is dry, the design is drawn with the point of an etching needle, in the same being enabled to have any number of way as on copper, cutting through the covering of gum and black, till the surface of the stone is reached, and then rubbing the solution into the lines or scratches. This done, it must be allowed to dry for the above mentioned time, and then soaked as before in water, when the gum will dissolve, leaving the lines only; upon which the printing ink is applied, as before explained, and the impression taken. Should this plan find a place in the Magazine, it is proposed to give, in some of your subsequent numbers, a short account of the history of the discovery, and of the methods used in common etching upon copper, together with some receipts for the preparation of the grounds, &c. ANECDOTE OF THE HIGHLANDERS IN 1745.

(Communicated by to the Publisher.)

to your request this morning, I send you some account of the particulars that attended my birth,—which I do with infinite pleasure, as it reflects great honour on the Highlanders (to whom I always feel the greatest gratitude), that at the time when their hearts were set on plunder, the fear of hurting a sick lady and child instantly stopped their intentions.

This incident occurred November 15, 1745. My father, Mr D'Acre, then an officer in his Majesty's militia, was a prisoner in the castle of Carlisle, at that time in the hands of Prince Charles. My mother (daughter of Sir George le Fleming, Bart, bishop of Carlisle) was living at Rose-Castle, six miles from Carlisle, where she was delivered of me.—She had given orders that I should immediately be privately baptized by the bishop's chaplain (his lordship not being at home), by the name of Rosemary D'Acre. At that moment a company of Highlanders appeared, headed by a Captain Macdonald; who, having heard there was came to plunder it. Upon the approach of the Highlanders, an old gray-headed servant ran out, and entreated Captain Macdonald not to  Vol. I.