258 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 5 



Jan. 16, by 36 lbs gut lard, at 



14c. - - - - 5 04 

 16, by 16 shoats,(on hand,) 



valued at ^4 each, 64 00 



• ^880 85 



, By balance credit, ^185 93' 



So you see I have been paid a market price for 

 all my food, and received ^185 93 J- for profit. 



January 23th, 1839. 



THE DAGUERROTIPE, 



From the New York Observer. 



The following is an extract from a private let- 

 ter of Professor S. F. B. Morse to the editor of 

 the Observer, dated, Paris, March 9th. 



" You have perhaps heard of the Daguerrotipe, 

 so called from the discoverer, M. Daguerre. It 

 is one of the most beautiful discoveries of the age. 

 I don't know if you recollect some experiments of 

 mine in New Haven, many years ago, when I 

 had my painting room next to Prof. Silliman's ex- 

 periments to ascertain if it were possible to fix the 

 image of the Camera Obscura. I was able to pro- 

 duce different degrees of shade on paper, dipped 

 into a solution of nitrate of silver, by means of dif- 

 ferent degrees of liglit ; but finding that light pro- 

 duced dark, and dark light, I presumed the pro- 

 duction of a true image to be impracticable, and 

 gave up the attempt. M. Daguerre has realized 

 in the most exquisite manner this idea. 



" A ihw days ago I addressed a note to Mr. D. 

 requesting, as a stranger, the fiivor to see his re- 

 sults, and inviting him in turn to see my Tele- 

 graph. [ was politely invited to see them under 

 these circumstances, for he had determined not to 

 show them again, until the Chambers had passed 

 definitely on a proposition for the government to 

 purchase the secret of the discovery, and make it 

 public. The day before yesterday, the 7th, I 

 called on M. Daguerre, at his rooms in the Dior- 

 ama, to see these admirable results. 



"They are produced on a metallic surface, the 

 principal pieces about 7 inches by 5, and they re- 

 semble aquatint engravings, for they are in sim- 

 ple chiaro oscuro, and not in colors. But the ex- 

 quisite minuteness of the delineation cannot be 

 conceived. No painting or engraving ever ap- 

 proached it. For example: in a view up the 

 street, a distant sign would be perceived, and the 

 eye could just discern that there were lines of let- 

 ters upon it, but so minute as not to be read with 

 the naked eye. By the assistance of a powerful 

 lens, which magnified 50 times, applied to the de- 

 lineation, every letter was clearly and distinctly le- 

 gible, and so also were the minutest breaks and 

 lines in the walls of the buildings and the pave- 

 ments of the street. The effect of the lens upon 

 the picture was in a great degree like that of the 

 telescope in nature. 



"Objects moving are not impressed. The 

 Boulevard, so constantiv filled with a movino' 

 throng of pedestrians and carriages, was perfectly 

 solitary, except an individual who was having his 

 boots brushed. His feet were compelled, of course, 

 to be stationary for some time, one being on the 

 box of the boot-black, and the other on the ground. 

 Consequently, his boots and legs are well defined, | 



but he is without body or head, because these were 

 in motion. 



" The impressions of interior views are Rem- 

 brandt perfected. One of Mr. D's plates is an 

 impression of a spider. The spiaer was not big- 

 ger then the head of a large pin ; but the image, 

 magnified by the solar microscope to the size of 

 the palm of the hand, having been impressed on 

 the plate, and examined through a lens, was fur- 

 ther magnified, and showed. a minuteness of or- 

 ganization hitherto not seen to exist. You per- 

 ceive how this discovery is, therefore, about to 

 open a new field of research in the depths of mi- 

 croscopic nature. We are soon to see if the mi- 

 nute has discoverable limits. The naturalist is to 

 have a new kingdom to explore, as much beyond 

 the microscope as the microscope is beyond the 

 naked eye. 



"But I am near the end of my paper, and I 

 Iiave unhappily to give a melancholy close to my 

 account of this ingenious discovery. M. Da- 

 guerre appointed yesterday at noon to see my 

 telegraph. He came, and passed more than an 

 hour with me, expressing himself highly grati- 

 fied at its operation. But while he was thus em- 

 ployed, the great building of the Diorama, with 

 his own house, all bis beautiful works, his valu- 

 able notes and papers, the labor of years of ex- 

 periment, were, unknown to him, at that mo- 

 ment becoming the prey of the fiames. His se- 

 cret indeed is still safe with him, but the steps of 

 his progress in the discovery, and his valuable re- 

 searches in science, are lost to the scientific world. 

 I learn that his Diorama was insured, but to what 

 extent I know not. I am sure all friends of sci- 

 ence and improvement will unite in expressing the 

 deepest sympathy in M. Dajruerre's loss, and the 

 sincere hope that such a liberal sum will be award- 

 ed him by his government, as shall enable him in 

 some degree at ieast, to recover from his loss." 



In the same vessel which brought the above 

 letter, the writer himself arrived. From him we 

 have received some additional information respect- 

 ing this very interesting discovery, which we can- 

 not at present communicate. We have only room 

 to say, that we are even more impressed with the 

 value of the invention as a means of procuring, 

 without labor or expense, perfect and satisfactory 

 panoramas of all the most interesting places and 

 scenery on the globe, and, if we apprehend its 

 power correctly, perfect representations of the hu- 

 man countenance, than with its power to reveal 

 the secrets of "microscopic nature." With what 

 delight will the eye dwell on the panoramas of 

 Jerusalem, Thebes, Constantinople, Rome, and 

 other cities of the old world, delineated with uner- 

 ring fidelity by the Daguerrotipe? With what in- 

 terest shall we visit the gallery of portraits of dis- 

 tinguished men of all countries, drawn, not with 

 man's feeble, false, and flattering pencil, but with 

 the power and truth of light from heaven ! It 

 may not be long before we shall witness in this 

 city the exhibition of such panoramas and such 

 portraits. 



ON CORN AND ITS CULTURE. 



For tlic Farmers' Register. 



I was particularly interested in that part of Mr. 

 Garnett's late address, which relates to Indian 



