Foreign Notices : — France. 473 



in the Milford Nursery. The leaves are not half the breadth of the common 

 variety, and twice their length, and the flowers are of a darker blue, and 

 produced much more freely than in the common species. The seeds were 

 received by the Rev. Mr. Callicot of Pepperharrow, from a friend on the 

 Swan River. Altogether it seems a very desirable variety. — Cond. 



Daguerre's Photography (that is, Daguerre's mode of drawing or delineating 

 by light) appears to be one of the most wonderful inventions that ever were 

 made, and promises to effect important improvements in many delineations 

 that have reference to botany and gardening. M. Daguerre produces " pictures 

 of objects by reflected light, and in an incredibly short space of time. By his 

 process, it seems only necessary to expose a sheet of his prepared paper to a 

 ship, a temple, a clump of wood, or a street of houses, to obtain, in two or 

 three minutes, a drawing of the whole, more minute in its details, and more 

 perfect in its proportions, than the most skilful artist could produce." Sir 

 John Robison, who is the first English gentleman to foresee the importance of 

 this invention, and to give an intelligent account of it (see Athenceum of 

 June 8. 1839), had an opportunity of satisfying himself that the pictures pro- 

 duced by Daguerre's process have no resemblance to the photogenic drawings, 

 also created by light, except in the absence of colour. " They are as per- 

 fect images of the objects they represent, as are those which are seen by re- 

 flection from a highly polished 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 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." {Jam. Journ., No. liii.) In a letter to us, Sir John 

 observes that M. Daguerre's discovery will be "a precious gift to publishers, as 

 it enables them to procure accurate drawings of the most complex objects at a 

 trifling expense, for the use of their engravers. A dozen exquisite views of 

 York or Westminster cathedral, under different effects of light, may be ob- 

 tained at less expense than an inaccurate sketch of a cottage can be got for at 

 present : even your Arboretum may benefit by occasional dead calms enabling 

 you to get identical portraits of fine trees. — J. R. Edinburgh, Jane 12. 1839." 



Art. II. Foreign Notices. 



FRANCE. 



A NEW Tile for Roofs. — When I was in Paris, I saw at I'Exposition a por- 

 tion of roofing made with a form of tile which was new to me, and, I suspect, 

 is really so. It is the best thing of the kind I ever saw, and is, perhaps, pre- 

 ferable to slate. It must be nearly wind and water tight, yet has no other 

 overlap than a neat locking joint ; it is, consequently, comparatively light, yet 

 it is so well bound together, that it runs less risk of being disturbed by wind 

 than heavy slates do. In short I think the pattern well worthy of being 

 adopted and introduced in this country. The tiles are manufactured by ma- 

 chinery, at No. 75. Rue de Vangirard, by Romain, Jean, et Co., where some 

 other excellent articles are executed in brick earth, and where you will be able 

 to get specimens and descriptions for insertion in your supplement to the En- 

 cyclopedia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture. — J. R. Paris, May, 1839 



AUSTRALIA. 



The Sydney Floral and Horticultural Society. — We have very great pleasure 

 in laying before our readers the following account of this Society, of the exist- 

 ence of which we were not before aware. It is particularly gratifying to see 

 that any taste or improvement which prevails in England is speedily adopted 



