DAFFODIL 



1GSG 



DAGUERROTYPE 



flee from Athens to Crete. There he built 

 the famous labyrinth and Ariadne's dancing- 

 place, both of which have been unearthed by 

 modern excavators. Later, having offended 

 the king, he and his son, Icarus, were impris- 

 oned. To effect an escape, Daedalus made two 

 pairs of wings which they fastened on their 

 shoulders. According to the myth, Icarus fell 

 into the sea, because he flew so near the sun 

 that the wax fastening the wings was melted. 

 Daedalus landed safely in Sicily, where he 

 built several famous temples. 



DAFFODIL, da}' odil, an old-fashioned, 

 ever-popular, early spring flower, a species of 

 narcissus. It is a native of Europe, where it 

 grows wild in woods and hedges, but it is 

 extensively cultivated in America, Holland and 

 England. There are various forms of daffodils. 

 The best known is the trumpet daffodil, which 

 inspired Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth and 

 many other poets, and whose gay blossoms, 

 masses of captured sunshine, bring to mind the 

 chant of English children 



Daffy-down-dilly, just come to town 



With a yellow petticoat and a green gown. 



This species bears a long, yellow tube with a 

 crinkly edge, surrounded at the base by long 



Daffodils, 



That come before the swallow dares, and take 

 The winds of March with beauty. 



SHAKESPEARE : Winter's Tale. 



yellow petals. One flower appears at the end 

 of each stalk, standing out at right angles. The 

 narrow, bluish-green leaves are nearly flat, and 

 five or six grow about each flower stalk. The 



Van Sion is the best double daffodil listed in 

 catalogues. 



Daffodil bulbs should be planted in autumn 

 or early winter and should be placed four 

 inches deep and about three inches apart in 

 free, open soil. Blossoms will appear in April. 

 If kept indoors for winter-blooming, flowers 

 are produced in January. See NARCISSUS. 



DAGUERROTYPE, da ger' o type, the name 

 given to the first practical photographic inven- 

 tion, perfected by Daguerre in 1839. The 



IN MEMORY OF DAGUERRE 

 Monument in the National Museum-, Washing- 

 ton, D. C. 



process was far more complicated than any 

 involved in modern photography, and the re- 

 sults obtained would now be considered most 

 commonplace. At the time, however, it caused 

 a great sensation in the scientific world. The 

 process consisted in first sensitizing a polished 

 copper plate by coating it with chemically 

 pure silver. Then the plate was submitted to 

 the action of vapor of iodine; following this 

 it received further treatment with vapor of 

 bromine. After exposure in a camera the 

 image was developed in vapor of mercury, and 

 the plate was immersed in a solution of hypo- 

 sulphite of soda to render the result perma- 

 nent. The finished picture was not much in- 



