s which are strong enough as they are, either
because the copper was cut by the point, or because the lines in them
are very close, you must cover them up with the brush. The same thing is
necessary in the case of the excessively black spots which sometimes
manifest themselves in places covered by irregularly crossing lines, and
the intensity of which it would be useless to increase still further.
This recommendation is valuable for work requiring precision.

59. =Revarnishing with the Dabber for Rebiting.=--For partial rebiting
the same result may be reached by applying the ground with the dabber.
Heat your plate, and surround the part to be rebitten with a thick coat
of ordinary etching-ground. Now heat your dabber, and pass it over the
ground. Finally, when the dabber is thoroughly impregnated with the
ground, carry it cautiously and little by little over the part in
question, dabbing continually.[13]

60. =Revarnishing with the Brush for Rebiting.=--Let me also call your
attention to an analogous case which may arise. If you desire to
increase the depth of the biting in a part of the plate in which the
lines are rather widely apart, you may cover the plate with the brush
and stopping-out varnish, and may pass the needle through the lines so
as to open them again. You can then rebite in the tray, or by using pure
acid, or by allowing acid at 20 deg. to stand on the part in question,
just as you please.

61. =Rebiting a Remedy only.=--Etchers who are entitled to be considered
authorities will advise you to avoid as much as possible all rebiting by
means of revarnishing, as it results in heaviness, and never has the
freshness of a first biting obtained with the same ground. A practised
eye can easily detect the difference. Never let the rebiting be more
than a quarter of the first biting. Use the process as a remedy, but
never count on it as a part of your regular work.

62. =Holes in the Ground.=--Having once taken up the consideration of
the little mishaps which may befall the etcher, I shall now show you
another plate in which the sky is dotted by a number of minute holes of
no great depth (_piques_). This plate has, no doubt, been retouched, and
the ground having been badly laid, the acid played mischief with it. It
is very lucky that the lines in the sky are widely separated, as
otherwise these holes would be inextricably mixed up with them. We can
rid ourselves of them by a few strokes of the burnisher, and by