11. For pieces rendered entirely in pencil, he employs a variety of pencil leads of varying degrees of hardness. 12. For gangsters living the incognito life, the witness protection program can be as dull as old pencil lead . 13. Some contained sand, pencil lead and wood chips, and a cockroach was found in one meal, it said. 14. Surgeons sewed arteries and veins the diameter of pencil lead using thread thinner than human hair, Sando said. 15. A " mark sense pencil lead " sold by IBM would meet federal specifications for " electrographic lead ." 16. And why the low modernist sofa combines linen upholstery with button-bedecked cashmere cushions the color of a pencil lead . 17. :: : Oh, I see, I'm pretty sure the scanner that grades Scantron sheets looks for the reflective pencil lead . 18. A wire the size of a No . 2 pencil lead lies beneath the skin to hold the sternum together. 19. Old-style, non-alkaline, non-lithium pencil leads would be an easier source, since you don't have to deal with the chemical paste. 20. Models and sets were also " dirtied down " with powder paint or pencil lead to create a used look.