184 Miscellanies. 
vited to visit the studio of M. Daguerre, to see the results of his discov- 
ery; I had an opportunity of satisfying myself, that the pictures pro- 
duced by his process have no resemblance to any thing which, as far 
as I know, has yet been produced in this country ; and that, excepting 
in the absence of color, they are as perfect images of the objects they 
represent, as are those which are seen by reflection from a highly pol- 
ished surface. The perfection and fidelity of the pictures are such, 
that on examining them by microscopic power, details are discovered 
which are not perceivable to the naked eye in the original objects, 
but which, when searched for there by the aid of optical instruments, 
are found in perfect accordance: a crack in plaster, a withered leaf 
lying ona projecting cornice, or an accumulation of dust in a hollow 
moulding of a distant building, when they exist in the original, are 
faithfully copied in these wonderful pictures. 
The subjects of most of the numerous specimens which I saw, were 
views of streets, boulevards, and buildings, with a considerable num- 
ber of what may be termed interiors with still life; among the latter 
were various groups made up of plaster-casts and other works of art. 
It is difficult to express intelligibly a reason for the charm which is felt 
in beholding these pictures ; but I think it must arise, in some measures 
from finding that so much of the effect which we attribute to color; is 
preserved in the picture, although it consist only in light and shade; 
these, however, are given with such accuracy, that, in consequence of 
different materials reflecting light differently, it is easy to recognize 
those of which the different objects in the groups are formed. A work 
in white marble is at once distinguished from one in plaster-of-Parisby 
the translucency of the edges of the one, and the opacity of the otn@ 
Among the views of buildings, the following were remarkable: A 
set of three pictures of the same group of houses, one taken svon after 
sunrise, one at noon, and one in the evening; in these the change of 
aspect produced by the variations in the distribution of light, was 
emplified in a way which art could never attain to. 
One specimen was remarkable from its showing the progress made 
by light in producing the picture. A plate having been exposed dur- 
ing 30 seconds to the action of the light and then removed, the appear 
ance of the view was that of the earliest dawn of day ; there was 
grey sky, and a few corners of buildings and other objects beginning 
to be visible through the deep black in which all the rest of the picture 
was involved. ks 
The absence of figures from the streets, and the perfect way 10 
which the stones of the causeway and the foot-pavements are Lee 
dered, is, at first sight, rather puzzling, though a little reflection & - 
fies one that passing objects do not remain long enough to make any 
