‘si Sere ight 1M, 
5) Me 
a ee. 
Miscellanies. 185 
perceptible impression, and that (interfering only for a moment with 
the light reflected from the road,) they do not prevent a nearly accu- 
rate picture of it being produced. 
Vacillating objects make indistinct pictures, e. g.a person getting 
his boot cleaned by a decrotteur gave a good picture, except that hav- 
ing moved his head in speaking to the shoe-black, his hat was out of 
shape, and the decrotteur’s right arm and brush were represented by a 
half-tinted blot, through which the foot of the gentleman was partially 
visible. 
There can be no doubt that when M. Daguerre’s process is known 
to the public, it will be immediately applied to numberless useful 
purposes, as by means of it, accurate views of architecture, ma- 
chinery, &c., may be taken, which being transferred to copper or to 
stone, may be disseminated at a cheap rate; and useful books on ma- 
ny subjects may be got up with copious illustrations, which are now 
foo costly to be attainable: even the fine arts will gain, for the 
eyes accustomed to the accuracy of Daguerrotype pictures, will no 
longer be satisfied with bad drawing, however splendidly it may be 
colored. In one department, it will give valuable facility. Anatom- 
ical and surgical drawings, so difficult to make with the fidelity which 
it is desirable they should possess, will then be easily produced by a 
= skill and practice in the disposition of the subjects and of the 
Ignts, 
It is a curious circumstance that, at the same time that M. Da- 
guerre has made this beautifuland useful discovery in the art of deline- 
ation, another Parisian artist* has discovered a process by which he 
Makes solid casts in plaster of small animals or other objects, without 
Seams or repairs, and without destroying the model, (Moulage d’une 
seule piéce, sans couture ni reparage, et avec conservation parfaite du 
modele). Tamin possession of several specimens of his work, among 
Which are casts of the hand of an infant of six months, so delicately 
€xecuted, that the skin shows evident marks of being affected by some 
slight eruptive disease. I am, dear Sir, very faithfully yours, 
Joun Rosison. 
James Top, Esq., Secretary to the Society of Arts. 
Edinburgh, 1st June, 1839. 
2. Correction of an error—Cinnabar not found in Michigan.—In Vol. 
» at page 33, of this Journal, it is stated in a letter to Dr. J. L. Comstock 
yB.F. Stickney, that “a black and garnet colored sand is found on the 
shores of Lake Erie and Michigan which is a sulphuret of mercury and 
Yields about 60 per cent. of that metal.” No confirmation of this too 
Oe ee ee 
I 
‘tlippolyte Vincent, Mouleur, Rue Neuve St. Frangois No. 14 (au Marai). 
Ol. xxxvi1, No. 1.—July, 1839, bis. 24 
