Dry-point

Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 4: Dionysius to Friction, p. 101

Dry-point, a sharp etching-needle, used to incise fine lines in copper, without the plate being covered with etching-ground, or the lines bit in by acid (see ENGRAVING, ETCING). The work produced by the dry-point is not only very delicate, but it wears less in printing than lines produced by the action of acid.

Source scan(s): p. 0110