Daguerreotype

(da-gĕr'o tip) (Synop., § 130), n. [From Daguerre, the discoverer.]

1. A method of taking pictures by photography, on plates of copper silvered over, and on other materials suitably prepared. The image is received by means of a camera obscura on the plate, which has previously been rendered sensitive to light by means of iodine or bromine. The process depends on the power of light to decompose iodide or bromide of silver, so producing an image, which is rendered distinct and permanent by the action of vapor of mercury, or other appropriate agents, on the plate.
2. The picture produced by the above process.