Part 31 (2/2)

The ink is next applied, and by pressing damp paper upon the block, the impressions are obtained Albert Durer, a celebrated painter of Ger on wood and reat perfection

How is engraving on copper, steel, &c, perfor is perforraver_, by ures, landscapes, &c, are traced upon a flat surface of the metal: the lines are then filled with ink or a similar composition, and the paper pressed on the plate

When taken off, an exact copy of the plate is impressed upon its surface

[Illustration: COCHINEAL INSECTS AND PLANTS]

What is Lithography?

A species of engraving on stone, from which impressions can be taken much more expeditiously and economically than fro principles:--First, the facility hich calcareous stones imbibe water; second, the power of oily substances to repel water When drawings are executed upon the stone with crayons composed of oily materials, and the surface of the stone is washed over ater, the raving; and when the ink, which also contains oily substances, is applied, it adheres only to the drawing, and not to the other portions of the stone The block is then passed through a press, and the impressions are taken off; as le stone

_Expeditiously_, with celerity or dispatch

_Econoality

You describe Pearls as being ranked ah they are not Stones; what kind of substance are they?

Pearls are excrescences found in the shells of a large species of oyster, which are supposed to be produced by a disease of the fish

The best pearls are generally taken froe of the shell, but inferior kinds are found in all parts of the fish, and adhering to the shells Pearls, from many allusions made to them in the Old Testaarded by theet the Oysters which contain the the oysters froe beds at the bottom of the sea; or the rocks to which they adhere The divers cast all the oysters they take into their boats, and carry them ashore, where they deposit them in heaps; they are then left till they beco necessary in order to reh matter by which they are surrounded

What sea produces the best and greatest nureatest quantities are obtained off the coast of Ceylon; the pearl oyster is also found in the seas of the East Indies; in those of America, and in some parts of the European seas; but these last are much inferior The Oriental pearls are the finest on account of their size, color, and beauty, being of a silvery white; while the Occidental pearls are sed with a yellow or blackish hue

_Tinged_, slightly colored

Does not the Pearl Oyster produce a substance called Mother-of-Pearl?

No; the beautiful substance soboxes, and for ornamental knife-handles, &c, is produced from the shell, not of the pearl oyster, but of another sea-fish of the oyster kind

What is Inlaying?

The art of orna a plain surface of wood, or other material, with thin slices or leaves of a finer wood, of a different kind; as any inlaid with ebony, &c, or with ivory, and other substances

There are two kinds of inlaying; one, of the more ordinary sort, which consists only of compartments of different kinds of wood, inlaid with one another; the other, requiring greater skill, represents flowers, birds, and other figures The thin plates of wood or other substance, being sawed into slips, and cut into the required forlued down on the block of wood, &c, intended to be thus ornamented