ReportDominique Francois Arago

Report of the Commission of the Chamber of Deputies charged with the examination of a proposed bill granting, first, to M. Daguerre an annual and life pension of 6,000 francs and, second, to the son of M. Nipce, an annual life pension of 4,000 francs for the assignment to the State of their process for the fixation of images obtained in the camera obscura.

Presented by M. Arago, Deputy of the East-Pyrnes, in the French Chamber of Deputies, on July 3, 1839.

Gentlemen:The interest aroused in this invention recently made public by

M. Daguerre in this circle and elsewhere has been keen, enthusiastic, and unanimous. In all probability the Chamber awaits from its Commission no more than the approval of the proposed bill which the Minister of the Interior has presented. After careful consideration, however, the mandate with which you have charged us seems to impose upon us other duties.

We believe, however, that, while heartily approving the happy idea to grant a national reward to inventors whose interests cannot adequately be protected by the ordinary patent laws, we must furnish proof in the beginning of the cautious and scrupulous care with which this Chamber proceeds.

To subject a work of genius, such as that upon which we have to pass today, to a critical examination will serve to discourage ambitious mediocrity which might aspire to bring before this assembly its common and ephemeral productions. This will prove that you place upon a high plane the rewards which may be asked of you in the name of the national glory and that you cannot consent to lower your standards or dim their luster by a too lavish disposal of them.

These few words will serve to explain to the Chamber the lines we followed in our examination.

1. Is the process of M. Daguerre unquestionably an original invention?

2. Is this invention one which will render a valuable service to archaeology and the fine arts?

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3. Can this invention become practically useful? And, finally,4. Is it to be expected that the sciences may derive any advan

tage from it?Arago proceeded to sketch earlier attempts with the camera, citing historical notes on the work of Wedgwood and others, which, however, were not at all exhaustive, and briefly outlined the early labors of Nipce and Daguerre. Arago continues:The partnership agreement registered between Nipce and Daguerre for the joint exploitation of their photographic methods was dated December 14, 1829. The later agreements between M. Isidore Nipce, the son, as heir, and M. Daguerre mention first improvements which the Parisian painter added to the method invented by the physicist of Chaln and, secondly, entirely new processes discovered by M. Daguerre, capable of (in the language of the original document) reproducing images sixty to eighty times more rapidly than the earlier process. This will explain the several articles of the contract between the Minister of the Interior on the one hand and MM. Daguerre and Nipce, Junior, on the other, attached to the proposed bill. It will be noted that we have just spoken when discussing the labors of M. Nipce the qualifying words: for the photographic printing from copper engravings. As a matter of fact Nipce, after numerous fruitless experiments, had almost given up the hope of being able to fix images obtained directly in the camera obscura. The chemical preparations which he used did not darken rapidly enough under the action of light, for he required ten to twelve hours to produce the image and during the long time of exposure the shadows of the objects represented changed from one side to the other, so that the resulting pictures were flat and monotonous in tones, lacking all the pleasing effects which arise from the contrast of light and shade; and, furthermore, even apart from these difficulties, one was never certain of a successful result, because after taking innumerable precautions, inexplicable and accidental occurrences intervened, and there was sometimes a passable result, or an incomplete image resulted which showed here and there empty spaces, and, finally, when exposed to sunlight, the sensitive coating, if it did not refuse to darken, would become brittle and scale off.

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When all these imperfections are enumerated and the nature and manner of their elimination is explained, an almost complete account is obtained of the credit which M. Daguerre deserves for the discovery of his method, achieved after endless laborious, delicate, and costly experiments.

Even the feeblest light rays change the sensitive substance of the daguerreotype plate. This change is effected before the shadows thrown by the sun have time to move appreciably. The results are assured ifone follows certain simple rules. Finally, the effect of sunlight on the finished pictures does not diminish, even after years, either their purity, their brilliancy, or their harmony.

Your commission has made the necessary arrangements, so that on the day when the proposed bill is discussed all those Deputies who desire to examine the examples of the daguerreotype process may form their own opinions of the usefulness of this discovery. While these pictures are exhibited to you, everyone will imagine the extraordinary advantages which could have been derived from so exact and rapid a means of reproduction during the expedition to Egypt; everybody will realize that had we had photography in 1798 we would possess today faithful pictorial records of that which the learned world is forever deprived of by the greed of the Arabs and the vandalism of certain travelers.

To copy the millions of hieroglyphics which cover even the exterior of the great monuments of Thebes, Memphis, Karnak, and others would require decades of time and legions of draughtsmen. By daguerreotype one person would suffice to accomplish this immense work successfully. Equip the Egyptian Institute with two or three of Daguerres apparatus, and before long on several of the large tablets of the celebrated work, which had its inception in the expedition to Egypt, innumerable hieroglyphics as they are in reality will replace those which now are invented or designed by approximation. These designs will excel the works of the most accomplished painters, in fidelity of detail and true reproduction of the local atmosphere. Since the invention follows the laws of geometry, it will be possible to reestablish with the aid of a small number of given factors the exact size of the highest points of the most inaccessible structures.

These reflections, which the zealous and famous scholars and

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artists attached to the army of the Orient cannot lightly dismiss without self-deception, must without doubt turn their thoughts to the work which is now being carried on in our country under the control of the Commission for Historic Monuments. A glance suffices to recognize the extraordinary role which the photographic process must play in this great national enterprise; it is evident at the same time that this new process offers economic advantages which, incidentally, seldom go hand in hand in the arts with the perfecting of production.

If, finally, the question arises whether art in itself may expect further progress from the study of these images drawn by natures most subtle pencil, the light ray, M. Paul Delaroche will answer us.

In a report, made at our request this celebrated painter states that Daguerres processes are so far-reaching in the realization of certain essential requirements of art that they will be the subject of observation and study, even by the most able painters. What he stresses most about photographic images is their unimaginable precision of detail, which does not disturb the repose of the masses and does not detract in any way from the general effect. The accuracy of the lines, Delaroche continues, the nicety of form, are as perfect in Daguerres pictures as could be desired, and at the same time one recognizes a broad and vigorous modeling as rich in tone as it is in effect. . . .The painter finds in this process an easy way of making collections for afterstudy and use which otherwise are obtainable only at great expense of time and labor, and yet less perfect in quality, no matter how great his talent may be. After having opposed with, excellent arguments the opinions of those who imagined that photography would be detrimental to our artists and especially to our skilled engravers, M. Delaroche concludes his report with the remark: In short the remarkable invention of M. Daguerre is a great service rendered to the Arts.

We will not presume to add anything to such testimony.It will be recalled that among the questions which occupied us

at the beginning of this report was whether this invention can become of practical use? Without disclosing anything that must remain secret until the passage and promulgation of the bill, we can say that the plates on which light produces the admirable picture images of M. Daguerre are plated tablets, i.e., copper

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plates which have been coated with a thin deposit of silver. Doubtless, it would have been more advantageous not only for the comfort of travelers as well as from an economic point of view, if paper could be used. Paper impregnated with silver chloride or silver nitrate was indeed the first substance chosen by M. Daguerre, but the lack of sensitivity, the confused image, the uncertainty as to results, and the accidents which often happened during the operation of reversing lights and shadows could not but discourage so skilled an artist. Had he pursued this direction, his pictures would probably be shown in collections as experimental results among the curiosities of physics, but assuredly would never have become a subject for the consideration of this chamber. Finally, if it be said that three or four francs, the cost of a plate such as M. Daguerre uses, seems too costly, it is but fair to state that the same plate may serve successively for the taking of a hundred different pictures.

The extraordinary success of M. Daguerres present process can be attributed in part to the fact that he uses an extremely thin coating, a veritable film. We need not concern ourselves here with the cost of the material employed; in fact the price is too small for evaluation. Only one member of the commission has seen the artist at work and has himself operated the process. It is, therefore, due to the personal responsibility of this Deputy that we can present to the members of the Chamber daguerreotype from the standpoint of practicability. Daguerreotype calls for no manipulation which anyone cannot perform. It presumes no knowledge of the art of drawing and demands no special dexterity. When, step by step, a few simple prescribed rules are followed, there is no one who cannot succeed as certainly and as well as can M. Daguerre himself.

The rapidity of the method has probably astonished the public more than anything else. In fact, scarcely ten or twelve minutes are required for photographing a monument, a section of a town, or a scene, even in dull, winter weather.

In summer sunlight the time of exposure can be reduced to half. In the southern climate two to three minutes will certainly be sufficient. We must note, however, that the ten to twelve minutes exposure in winter, the five to six minutes in summer, and the two to three minutes in the South express only the actual time during which the sensitive plate receives the image projected by the lens.

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To this must be added the time occupied by the unpacking and mounting of the camera obscura, preparing the plate, and the short time necessary for protecting the plate from the action of light after the exposure. For all these manipulations perhaps a half to three quarters of an hour may be required. Those who fondly imagine when about to start on a journey that they will employ every moment when the coach is climbing slowly uphill in taking the scenes, will be therefore disappointed in their expectations. No less will be the disappointment of those who, astonished by the success obtained by the copying of pages and illustrations of the most ancient works, would dream of the photographic images for the reproduction and multiplication of the daguerreotype by means of lithographic print. Not alone in the moral world has every quality its defects; this principle applies also to the Arts. The perfection, delicacy, and harmony of the picture images are the result of the perfect smoothness and incalculable thinness of the coating on which M. Daguerre operates. If such a picture is rubbed or even lightly touched, or subjected to the pressure of a roller, it is destroyed past redemption; but, who could imagine anyone pulling apart a fine piece of lace or brushing the wings of a butterfly? The member of the Academy who has known for several months the preparations on which the beautiful designs submitted for our examination are produced deems it inadvisable to utilize his knowledge of the secret which had been entrusted to him by M. Daguerre, who had honored him with his confidence. He felt that before entering upon further research, thrown open to physicists by the photographic process, it would be more delicate to wait until a national award had placed in the hands of all observers the same means for further study. If we therefore discuss the scientific advantages of the invention by our compatriot, we can only hazard a conjecture. The facts, however, are clear and obvious, and we need not fear that the future will discredit our statements. The preparation used by M. Daguerre is a reagent, much more sensitive to the action of light than any heretofore known. Never have the rays of the moon, we do not mean in its natural condition, but focused by the greatest lens or the largest reflector, produced any perceptible physical effect. The plates prepared by M. Daguerre, however, bleach to such an extent, by the action of the same rays, followed by a subsequent treatment, that we may hope to be able to make photographic

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maps of our satellite. In other words, it will be possible to accomplish within a few minutes one of the most protracted, difficult, and delicate tasks in astronomy.

An important branch of the science of observation and calculation, that which deals with the intensity of light, photometry, has so far made little progress. The physicist has no difficulty in determining the comparative intensities of two lights, one next to the other and both simultaneously visible; but there are only imperfect means for making such a comparison when the condition of simultaneity is lacking, as when a light which is now visible is to be compared with another light, which will not be visible until after the first light has disappeared.

The artificial lights available to the observer for the purpose of comparison in the above-mentioned case are rarely permanent or of desirable stability; and seldom, especially when we deal with stars, do our artificial lights possess the sufficient whiteness. This is the reason for the great discrepancies between the determinations of the comparative light intensities of the sun and moon and the sun and stars, as given by equally able scientists; for the same reason the most important conclusions are surrounded by certain reservations, when they refer to the last-mentioned comparisons concerning the humble position which our sun occupies among the milliards of suns with which the firmament is bespangled; this, even in the works of the least timid authors.

We do not hesitate to say that the reagents discovered by M. Daguerre will accelerate the progress of one of the sciences, which most honors the human spirit. With its aid the physicist will be able henceforth to proceed to the determination of absolute intensities; he will compare the various lights by their relative effects. If needs be, this same photographic plate will give him the impressions of the dazzling rays of the sun, of the rays of the moon which are three hundred thousand times weaker, or of the rays of the stars. He can compare these impressions, either by dimming the strongest lights with the aid of the excellent media which only lately have been discovered, a description of which would be out of place here, or by allowing the most intense rays to act only for a second, while continuing the action of the other rays to half an hour, as may be necessary.

Moreover, when the observer applies a new instrument in the study of nature, his expectations are relatively small in compari-

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son to the succession of discoveries resulting from its use. In a case of this sort it is surely the unexpected upon which one especially must count.

Does this sound like a paradox? A few citations will prove its accuracy.

Some children accidentally placed two lenses each in opposite ends of a tube. They thus produced an instrument which enlarged distant objects and represented them as if approached. Astronomers accepted this instrument with the hope of being better able to observe stars, which had been known for ages, but which up to that time could be studied only imperfectly. Pointing this new instrument toward the firmament, they revealed myriads of new worlds. Penetrating the inner formation of the six planets of the ancients, one finds them similar to our own world, with mountains the height of which can be measured, atmospheric disturbances which can be followed, with the phenomena of formation and fusion of polar ice, analogous to the terrestrial poles and to the rotating movement which corresponds to that which creates the succession of our days and nights. Pointed toward Saturn, the tube of the Middelburg spectacle makers children reveal a phenomenon more wonderful than any dream of the most fanciful imagination.

Could anyone have foreseen that when turned so as to observe the four moons of Jupiter it would reveal luminous rays, traveling at a speed of eighty thousand miles (300,000 km.) per second; that, attached to graduated measuring instruments it would demonstrate that no stars exist whose light reaches us in less than three years; and, finally, that if the instrument be used in certain observations one may conclude with reasonable certainty that the rays by which we perceive at any given moment were emitted by certain nebulae millions of years ago; in other words, that these nebulae, owing to the continuous propagation of light, would be visible to us several millions of years after their complete destruction?

The glass for near objects, the microscope, gives occasion for similar observations, because nature is no less admirable, no less varied in its smallness than in its immensity. When the microscope was first used for the observation of certain insects whose shapes the scientists desired to see in an enlarged size in order to delineate them more accurately, it revealed subsequently and

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unexpectedly in air, in water, in short in all liquids, these animalcules, these infusoria, through which it is hoped to find sooner or later a reasonable explanation for the beginning of life. Recently directed to minute fragments of different stones of the hardest and most solid variety, of which the crust of our earth is composed, the microscope revealed to the astonished gaze of the observer that these stones once lived, that they are in reality a conglomeration of milliards and milliards of microscopic animalcules closely cemented together.

It should be remembered that this digression was necessary in order to dispell the erroneous opinion of those who would mistakenly limit the scientific application of M. Daguerres processes to the outline we have given; indeed, the facts already justify our expectations. We could, for instance, cite certain ideas, for the rapid method of investigation, which the topographer could borrow from the photographic process, but we shall reach our goal more quickly by mentioning here a singular observation, of which M. Daguerre spoke to us yesterday. According to him, the hours of the morning and of the evening, which are equally distant from the noon hour, and at which times the sun is at the same altitude, are not, however, equally favorable for the taking of photographs.

Thus, a picture is produced, regardless of the season and under similar atmospheric conditions at seven oclock in the morning somewhat more rapidly than at five oclock in the afternoon; at eight oclock faster than at four oclock, at nine faster than at three. Supposing this result is to be verified, the meteorologist will have a new element to record in his tables, and to the ancient observations as to the state of the thermometer, barometer, and hygrometer and the visibility of the air they will have to add another element, which these early instruments do not indicate. It will be necessary to take into consideration an absorption of a peculiar character which cannot be without influence on many other phenomena, perhaps even on those belonging to the fields of physiology and medicine.

We will endeavor, gentlemen, to set forth everything which the discovery of M. Daguerre offers of interest under four aspects: its originality, its usefulness in the arts, the speed of execution, and the valuable aid which science will find in it. We have striven to make you share our convictions, which are vivid

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and sincere, because we have examined and studied everything with scrupulous care, in keeping with the duty imposed by your suffrage, because, if it were possible to misjudge the importance of the daguerreotype and the place which it will occupy in the worlds estimation, every doubt would have vanished at sight of the eagerness with which foreign nations pointed to an erroneous date, to a doubtful fact, and sought the most flimsy pretext in order to raise questions of priority and to try to take credit for the brilliant ornament which photography will always be in the crown of discoveries. Let us not forget to proclaim that all discussion on this point has ceased, not so much on account of the incontestable and authenticated authority of title on which MM. Nipce and Daguerre base their claims, but chiefly because of the incredible perfection which M. Daguerre attained. If it were necessary, we would not be at a loss to present here the testimony of the most eminent men of England and Germany, in the face of which everything we have said, however flattering, concerning the discovery of our compatriot would pale completely. France has adopted this discovery and from the first moment has been proud that it can present it generously to the entire world.

We were not at all surprised by the public sentiment awakened by the exposure, due to a misapprehension of motives, which seemed to indicate that the government had bartered with the inventors and that the pecuniary conditions of the contract proposed for your sanction represented a bargain. It becomes necessary, gentlemen, to re-establish the facts.

The member of the Chamber who had full power given him by the Minister of the Interior did not haggle with M. Daguerre. Their negotiations were concerned solely with the point whether the recompense which the able artist had so well merited should be a fixed pension or a single payment. M. Daguerre at once remarked that the stipulation of a lump sum might give the contract the character of a sale. It would not be the same with a pension. It is with a pension that you reward the soldier, crippled on the field of honor, the official, grown gray at his post; and thus you have honored the families of Cuvier, Jussieu, De Champollion.

Such memories must have affected the noble character of M. Daguerre; he decided to ask for a pension. At the request of the

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Minister of the Interior, M. Daguerre himself set the amount of the pension at 8,000 francs, which was to be divided equally between him and his partner, M. Nipces son. M. Daguerres share was later increased to 6,000 francs, partly because of the special conditions imposed on this artist, namely, to reveal the process of painting and lighting of the canvasses of the diorama, now reduced to ashes, and especially because he has pledged himself to make public all improvements with which he may enrich his photographic methods. The importance of this pledge will certainly not seem doubtful to anyone when we state that only a little progress is required to enable M. Daguerre to make portraits of living persons by his process. As far as we are concerned, instead of fearing that M. Daguerre might delegate to others the labor of adding to his present success, we rather sought to moderate his ardor. This we frankly admit is the motive which induced us to desire that you declare the pension free from the laws of restraint and attachment, but we have found that this amendment will be superfluous according to the law of 22d Floral of the VII year and according to the decree of the 7th Thermidor of the X year.

The commission therefore unanimously proposes that you adopt the bill of the government without change.

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