Page:The Polygraphic Apparatus.djvu/15

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10 nagnsmotypy. Every one knows that Daguerre has invented the wonderful art of light-printing on silvered plates. But as long as his process remained without improvement, the transitoriness of the picture, as well as the circumstance offered a great obstacle, that of the picture thus obtained, unless it is tit for etching, no copies can

  • ’¤¤•¤s¤‘•r¤r· be taken. This circumstance caused Talbot to invent a process

by means of which his productions are furnished on paper. The defects of paper in general, but especially owing to the hetero- geneous materials of which it is composed, leave yet large space for improvement, and, on that account, according to N iepce, glass has been made use of. We behold here a glass-·plate, on which there is a drawing of one of our grandest specimens of Gothic architecture, namely the tower of St. Stephen, as a negative picture, from which the positive picture has been taken which the reader now beholds. Who would be able, and what means would be required, to produce all these millions of details by means of our imitative organs, namely the eye and the hand! nuerosypy. In the same manner as we see this splendid monument of architecture diminished to any required size, photography or I light-printing furnishes every microscopic object enlarged to any size, and I have here a silk-worm breaking from its egg, seen 3000 times larger than nature by means of the microscope, ac- cording to the recipient of Mr. Ernest Heeger. These negative and positive copies may be multiplied without number, so that such pictures might be subjoined to every printed bool:. , Photogrsphical But not content to produce photographieal pictures of the size 1 §l°:::°:,°,i:°§:;_ of 2i inches (I), we pursued our aim by etching them, in order * to obtain plates {it for printing by means of mechanical multipli· E cation through the printing press -——- and the etched plate before ] us, which has been already multiplied by means of the galvanic l process, proves that the problem which has so long in vain been endeavoured to be solved is now soluble —— though by a diiferent method than that pursued by the deceased Professor Berres for ,