e flannels spoken of in the text (p.
56, Sec. 87). There is a kind of very thick flannel specially made for
printers' use. But if this cannot be had (of some plate-printer) any
good flannel with a piece of thick soft cloth over it will do well
enough.

In adjusting the press care must be taken that the pressure is neither
too great nor too small. This is a matter of experience.

_The plate-warmer_ is a box made of strong sheet-iron, into which either
a gas-jet or a small kerosene lamp can be introduced. If you happen to
have a gas-stove, and can get an iron plate of some kind to lay across
the top, you will have an excellent plate-warmer.

_The ink-slab._ Any _smooth_ slab of marble, slate, or lithographic
stone, about a foot square, will do.

_A muller._ This is a pestle of stone, flat at the bottom, used for
grinding colors or ink.

_A dabber or ball._ Take strips of thick cloth or flannel, about four or
five inches wide; roll them together as tightly as possible, until you
have a cylinder of two or three inches in diameter; bind firmly by
strong twine wound all around the cylinder; then cut one end with a
large sharp knife, so as to get a smooth surface. After the dabber has
been used for some time, and the ink has hardened in it, cut off another
slice so as to get a fresh surface.

_Rags for wiping._ Fine Swiss muslin and the fabric known as cheese
cloth make good rags for wiping. They can be bought at the dry-goods
stores. As they are charged with some material to make them stiff and
increase the weight, they must be washed before they are used. When they
have become too much charged with ink they may be boiled out in a
solution of potash or soda in water. The Swiss muslin costs about twelve
cents a yard, the cheese cloth about five.

I had a lot of rags specially sent to me from Paris, as I wished to see
the difference between the soft and the stiff muslin. The parcel
contained a collection of pieces of a sort of Swiss muslin, evidently
old curtains, and some pieces of old cotton shirting, some of which had
done duty at the Hotel des Invalides, still bearing its stamp!

_Printing-ink and paper._ (See Notes 23 and 24.)

To _ink the plate_, place it on the plate-warmer and allow it to become
as hot as your hand can bear. Then take up the ink from the ink-slab
with the dabber and spread it all over the surface, moving the dabber
along with a rocking motion, but not striking the plate with it. Take
care tha