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 arc 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 Avithered leaf 

 lying on a 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 tlie 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 ; buti tbinkit must arise, in some measure, 

 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 oi 

 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 other. 

 Among the views of buildings, the following were remarkable: A 

 set of three pictures of the same group of houses, one taken soon after 

 sunrise, one at noon, and one in the eveninn-; in these the change oi 

 aspect produced by the variations in the distribution of light, was ex- 

 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 a 

 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. 



The absence of figures from the streets, and the perfect way ii^ 

 which the stones of the causeway and the foot-pavements are ren- 

 dered, is, at first sight, rather puzzling, though a little reflection satis- 

 fies one that passing objects do not remain long enough to make any 



