why we did not observe it ourselves, had, been delayed year after year, without attracting any attention, or at least a very partial examination. It is equally worthy of remark, that discoveries are generally made by different persons at about the same time, so that it is often difficult to apportion the honour between them, or to say who ought to be considered as having had the first idea, or as having followed out a principle with most success. It is thus with the photogenic drawing. There are already many candidates in the field, and nation is in competition with nation for the discovery of this process, and a much more laudable competition it must be considered than that in which life and property has been so often sacrificed. of Naples, Giovanni Battista Porta, discovered that if a very small hole be pierced in the window shutter of a room, completely darkened in other respects, or better still if the aperture be perforated in a thin metallic plate applied to the shutter, all the exterior objects from which rays can enter through this opening will be represented on the opposite wall, in dimensions enlarged or diminished according to the distance. He found also that even with this imperfect apparatus, throughout a large extent of the picture, objects were painted in their natural colours, and with considerable truth of linear perspective. A short time afterwards, Porta found that it was not necessary to have the opening very small, thus limiting the view; but that if the perforation was covered with a lentiscus, or a convex glass, it might be of any dimensions. He remarked also the great improvement thus produced in the delineation. The images passing through the simple medium of the hole were without distinct The art of photogenic drawing may be said to depend on two facts-That the forms and shadows of bodies may be thrown by the rays of light on surfaces capable of receiving them, and That light has the property of changing the characters of certain chemical compounds such as the white chloride of silver which it converts into the black oxide. This explana-ness of position, intensity of colour, or tion of the art is, we are conscious, liable to many objections, and we should, perhaps, have better described it, by saying, that it is a method of obtaining the forms, proportions, and groupings of natural objects, by the physical and chemical action of light upon a prepared ground; but we doubt whether this would convey so much information as the previous less accurate but more explicit statement. When we say that the definition wants in accuracy, it must not be understood that it is contrary to present practice; but, on the other hand, although it is now perfectly true, new methods may be discovered of producing the effect required with greater ease and with more advantage. Let us, however, now turn to an examination of the principles to which we have referred, and endeavour to explain them fully to the reader. neatness of outline. On the contrary, with the lentiscus, the mimic forms rivalled the vivacity and strength of nature herself, the focal distances being properly adjusted. It is well known that all these discoveries of Porta have become truly astonishing in precision of detail and strength of colouring since the art of constructing achromatic glasses has been brought to its present perfection. Formerly a simple lentiscus composed of one kind of glass only, and consequently acting with as many separate focuses as there are colours in the undecomposed white ray, transmitted a comparatively indistinct image of objects. Now that we employ achromatic glasses, which combine all the incident rays in one focus, and that a periscopic construction of the apparatus likewise has been adopted, great perfection has been given to its effect. A work has been recently published "Porta constructed also portable dark by M. Daguerre on the history and chambers: these were composed of a practice of the Photogenic Drawing, which tube, longer or shorter, armed with a has been translated by Dr. Memes. In lentiscus as its optic instrument; a screen this book we find an analysis of the of white paper, or some prepared subreport presented to the Chamber of stance, occupied the focus, and upon Deputies by M. Arago, and from it we it the images of external objects were may extract the following passage, which received. The Neapolitan philosopher fully illustrates the first principle to proposed his simple arrangements for which we referred the projection of the the benefit of those who had not been forms of bodies upon prepared surfaces. taught drawing. According to him, "Two centuries ago, a philosopher | nothing else was required in order to obtain the most perfect transcripts of nature than merely to trace carefully the outline of the focal image. 66 becomes black when exposed to the light, the shades being more and more dark according to the intensity of the light. The knowledge of this might have sug image were thrown upon a piece of paper, or any other medium, impregnated with it, that image would be painte 1 by the rays of the sun, although, as far as lights and shadows are concerned, the picture must be the reverse of the real object; the parts which are deeply shaded, those on which no light falls, will remain white, and those which are brilliantly illuminated will be quite black. Strange as it may appear, this application was not thought of by the early chemists, nor indeed until the commencement of the nineteenth century. These anticipations of Porta's have not been realized. Painters and draughts-gested to the alchymists, that if any men, those in particular who execute large views, have still recourse to the camera. They, however, employ it merely to group objects en masse, to trace their contours, and to fix them in their proper position and magnitude, according to the principles of linear perspective. As to those effects proceeding from the imperfect transparency of our atmosphere, whence arise all the charms of tone and colouring, which, by a sufficiently erroneous appellation are designated by the term aerial perspective, the most experienced artists are aware that in reproducing these, the camera affords them no assistance. No person, however, has witnessed the neatness of outline, precision of form, the truth of colouring, and the sweet gradations of tint, without regretting that an imagery so exquisite and so faithful to nature could not be made to fix itself permanently on the tablet of the machine. Who has not been deeply anxious that some means might be discovered by which to give reality to shadows so exquisitely lovely. Yet in the estimation of all, such a wish seemed destined to take its place among other dreams of beautiful things; among the splendid but impracticable conceptions in which men of science and ardent temperament have sometimes indulged. This dream, notwithstanding, has just been realized. Let us take, then, the invention of its germ, and mark carefully its gradual unfolding." The principle here referred to, is employed in the camera obscura, an instrument employed to throw the rays of light from external objects, by reflection from a looking glass, so that the image may be formed on some horizontal prepared surface, which is done in such a manner as to give the proper form and colours to them. Wedgewood seems to have been the first person who had any idea of applying the property of which we have spoken to the formation of drawings. The inquiries of this philosopher were published in June, 1802, in the Journal of the Royal Institution, and he there proposes paper steeped in chloride of silver to copy paintings on glass and engravings. The experiments made by Wedgewood were repeated by Davy, who states he had obtained representations of objects exhibited in the solar microscope, but only at a short distance from the lens. Both Wedgewood and Davy then were unsuccessful in their attempts to introduce a photogenic drawing, Not having obtained the drawing, they of course devoted no time to the discovery of a method of fixing it, although this would have been to them an object of not less importance than the production of the outline. The pictures when produced cannot be submitted to the action of day-light, and are therefore only to be examined by the light of a lamp or candle. Some means, therefore, must be provided to neutralize the action of the light upon the paper. In the year 1814, M. Niepce, a country gentleman residing on his property The next thing to be considered is a near Châlon, on the Gaône, commenced means of giving permanence to the a series of photogenic experiments. In image thus formed; this will be done, January, 1826, he became acquainted probably, in various ways, and indeed with M. Daguerre, and in 1827, during is already accomplished in more than a short stay in England, read a paper one. There is a substance, long since on the subject before the Royal Society discovered, called lunar or caustic sil- of London. "On an attempt," says ver, or, according to modern nomen- M. Arago, "having been made to esclature, chloride of silver. This remark-tablish a priority of invention, thees able compound, although in itself white, sketches, still in a state of good preserv ation, were immediately and honourably produced from the collections of certain English philosophers. They prove beyond dispute, as respects both the photographic copies of engravings, and the formation, for the use of artists, of plates in the state of advanced etchings, that M. Niepce, in 1827, was acquainted with a method of making the shadows correspond to shadows, the demitints to the demi-tints, the lights to the lights. These early essays farther prove that he had discovered how to render his copies once formed, impervious to the erasing and blackening effects of the solar rays. In other words, the ingenious experimentalist of Châlons, by the composition of his grounds, had so early as 1827, resolved a problem which had defied the lofty sagacity of a Wedgewood and a Davy." NOTES ON THE MONTH. JANUARY. THE new year begins its career in winter: it is ushered in by clouds and storms, yet we welcome and hail its approach. The old year, with its sorrows and joys, its hopes and fears, its gratifications and disappointments, has passed; its chequered months, have rolled back into eternity, and we stand on the margin of an untried future, over which hangs a dense cloud, receding only in proportion as we advance, so as merely to lay bare the present, while all beyond it is unseen; for we know not what a day may bring forth. Let us then use the present, and be thankful that it is ours to employ and improve. How a Christian should use the present, depends upon the circumstances in which he is placed, In December, 1829, a deed of part--the exigencies, and the duties of the nership was drawn out between MM. Niepce and Daguerre, and by their united efforts, the art has been brought to a wonderful state of perfection. We are not, however, certain, from the evidence before us, that the name of M. Daguerre should be applied to the invention excluding that of M. Niepce, as the French have done, for it is quite certain that we are as much, if not more indebted to him; but we suppose the process will now always be known in France as the Daguerreotype. But it is here necessary to remark, that the English philosophers have not been entirely excluded from this work, although they have taken but a small and comparatively insignificant part. Soon after the publication of M. Daguerre's process, Mr. Fox Talbot stated, in a communication to the Philosophical Magazine, that he had been for four years acquainted with a process analogous to that of M. Daguerre; and yet it must be allowed that the operations of these two philosophers are sufficiently distinct. With Mr. Fox Talbot's arrangement, the picture is taken on prepared paper, and all the lights and shadows are reversed; a densely heavy thunder cloud appearing white, and a brilliantly illuminated body of water, quite black. According to the French process, the image is impressed on the silvered surface of a copper plate; the lines are distinct, and the shadows are in their proper places. In our next paper, we shall proceed to explain the former of these processes, H. hour; but among all his pursuits he will not forget his God, or heedlessly pass by the works of the great Creator, whose Spirit, at the beginning, moved upon the face of the waters, and whose great works are recorded in Scripture, that we may render them tributary to his praise. Need we then an apology, if, as each month appears, we direct our readers to the natural occurrences which, in the order of things, God has appointed; at least as far as our portion of the world is concerned, invite them into the fields and lanes, "by woods and lawns and living streams," show them a bird's nest, a bud, a flower; teach them to feel an interest in the fluttering insect, whose little life is its all; to relish the beauties of nature; and instead of gazing around them, and exclaiming, "All is barren," teach and induce them to acknowledge, "These are thy works, Parent of good. Thyself how wond'rous then!" But what is there worth looking at in winter, when the trees are leafless, and the hedges bare, and the ground either locked up with frost, or deluged with rain; when the fallow lands look dreary, and the lark has forgotten his song, and the sun, far in the south, scarcely rises above the verge of the horizon, and soon finishes his course? Such, methinks, I hear some reader ask, as he looks from this paper to the window, then stirs the fire, and shivering, creeps closer to the blazing embers, glad that he is not obliged to go out in such a bitter day. What, then! is there no pleasure in a winter's walk? nothing to see, nothing which will afford interest and instruction? Come with me into the fields and lanes, let us stroll through the wood, and by the farm; dare the cold, and see if we shall not be repaid for our exertion. Credit Cowper, no mean authority, when he says, that he "who can derive no gratification from a view of nature, even under the disadvantage of her most ordinary dress, will have no eyes to admire her in any." It is very cold; yet see how well the animals, destined to endure our winter, are enabled to withstand the severity of the season. The coat of the ox, no longer short and smooth, is deep and rough; the rain can scarcely penetrate it; it is the same with the horse, save when pampered and stall fed; in the more exposed and bleak districts, its increase of clothing is very remarkable. The Shetland pony is now as rough and shaggy as any painter who loves the picturesque can desire. The fur of all the wild tenants of our heaths and woods is increased in depth and thickness. The under fur of the hare is full and thick, whereas, during summer, it is very thin and short. The red grouse of the heathcovered hills, has a warm thick downy feathering to the very end of its toes; and the ermine, which, during the summer, was sleek and of a reddish brown, is now full furred and snowy white, except the tip of the tail. The alpine hare, and the ptarmigan of the Highlands have also changed their brown and mottled livery for one of purest whiteness; thus assimilating with the snow in colour, they better escape observation, when all around is open and exposed. But not only so, white bodies or substances are less rapid conductors of caloric than coloured, and while the atmosphere is so far below the vital temperature of the animal, its heat is thus, as it were, preserved and husbanded, for the maintenance of life. But we miss the bat, we miss the hedge-hog, we miss the dormouse. They may soon be found; but in what situation? in quiet slumber,-a slumber termed hybernation, during which the blood slowly circulates; the temperature of the body is reduced nearly to that of the atmosphere; and the vital functions are almost suspended. Is not this just one remove from death? No; it is the Creator's plan of preserving from death; it is a state of insensibility which the breath of spring will dissolve, at once restoring animation and vigour. We shall see the bat wheel again round the steeple, or the trees; the hedgehog will interrupt our woodland walks at eventide, and roll itself up at our approach; and the little dormouse will build its nest in the thicket, when the thicket can afford it concealment. What a flock of small birds! they must amount to thousands! They are larks, the same species whose song trills in the blue summer sky, the minstrel appearing but a speck in the vault of heaven. The lark is only gregarious during winter. At the close of autumn this bird assembles in flocks, augmented by visitors: of the same species from more northern regions, and the assemblage scours the country in search of food, sweeping and wheeling around the turnip fields and fallow lands, as if to reconnoitre ere settling. Larks in winter are generally fat, and esteemed a delicacy for the table, and hence their wholesale destruction: while the flocks are sleeping at night, a. wide light net is drawn over them, and thousands are thus taken. From the neighbourhood of Dunstable, vast quantities: are sent to the London markets; nevertheless we see no apparent diminution in the numbers of these delightful warblers, when the summer months return. That is the song of a bird; how clear, how shrill! It is the wren, one of the smallest, but one of the hardest of our British birds; it may be seen hopping from twig to twig, and flitting down the hedgerow, inquisitively examining the closely-covered buds, and prying into the crevices of the bark in quest of dormant insects and their larvæ, on which it feeds; then suddenly breaking: forth into a clear strain, which ceases as: suddenly as it began. But the wren is not our only winter songster: we have the robin, whose cheerful note is familiar to all, a favourite every where, with his rust-red breast, and his full black eye: the woodlark also, on a fine day, pours out. his melodious strain. The woodlark (Alanda arborea) does not congregate like the skylark during the winter sea-son, in large flocks, but merely associates: in small families of five, six, or seven,, which separate in the early part of the spring. The hedge-sparrow, or winterfauvette (Accentor modulares) may also now be heard warbling a gentle yet sweet and varied song; the thick hedge conceals the plainly-dressed songster, but it is well known; a pair builds in every - redgerow, in every garden, in every orchard, before the leaves have yet unfolded; and the nest, and its bright blue eggs are too often borne away in petty triumph by the thoughtless schoolboy. The golden-crested wren, or gold crest, (Regulus auricapillus, Selby,) the most diminutive of our British birds, less even than the common wren, (to which it is not generically related,) braves our severest weather, and may be observed flitting through the coppice, and along the edges, like a little fairy, all life and animation. It is a singular circumstance, that in the winter of 1822, thousands of these birds were seen to arrive upon the sea-shore and sand-banks of the Northumbrian coast; many of them were so fatigued by the length of their flight, or perhaps, by the unfavourable shift of wind, as to be unable to rise again from the ground. The flight must have been in prodigious quantities, as its extent was traced through the whole range of the coasts of Northumberland and Durham. There appears little doubt of this having been a migration from the more northern provinces of Europe, (probably the pine forests of Norway and Sweden,) from the circumstance of its arrival being simultaneous with that of large flights of the woodcock, fieldfare, and redwing. (See Selby's frit. Ornithol.) What can be more graceful in its actions, more pleasing in its colours, than the blue titmouse, (Parus cæruleus); there it hangs, head downwards, on that slender spray, pecking the buds in search of small caterpillars. In this pursuit its attitudes are amusingly varied; all elegant; all quick and lively. It is gone; another twig is undergoing its scrutiny. There too is its relative, the great titmouse, (Parus major,) remarkable for its well-contrasted colours, and its active, restless, busy habits. Little care these birds for the coldest weather: they are clad in soft deep plumage, and retire at night into barns, pigsties, stables, or the holes and chinks of old walls or trees, for comfort and security. See the fields, green with the rising blade, are blackened with rooks, all intent upon the destruction of the larvæ of beetles, which they eagerly devour, to the benefit of the farmer, who need not grieve at the trifling mischief they do by the dislodgment of the roots of the corn; a mischief compensated a thousand fold by their services. The redwing and the fieldfare are winter visitors; flocks of them are wheeling round the fields; they settle under the hedges, and along the borders of coppices, or in turnip fields; gleaning a scanty subsistence from the berries of the hawthorn, the dogrose, the holly, the ivy, and the mountain ash; adding thereto snails and the larvæ of insects. What a singular bird flitted by and a crossbill, (Loxia curvirostra, Linplunged into yonder firwood! It was næus.) Instances of this curious and |