The following brief quip appeared in the April 1842 issue of "The Comic Almanack, an Ephemeris in Jest and Earnest, containing Merry Tales, Humorous Poetry, Quips, & Oddities" (with illustrations by George Cruikshank) First Series, 1835-1843 (London: Chatto and Windus, n.d.)-- from the issue for April 1842 (pg. 311): - - - - - - - "Register of Inventions of 1841" Photographic Portraits. Whilst the Adelaide Gallery and Polytechnic Institution of London are vying with each other for superiority in producing those remarkably pleasant-looking and cheerful representations, Mons. Le Coeur, of Paris, has adopted his new system of taking them, which it seems he addresses especially to young engaged people. The optical structure of the human eye, it is well known, forms a Camera Obscura, by whose action the lineaments of the loved one are correctly stamped upon the heart. The chief difficulty has been experienced in fixing the picture so formed; for it appears that, after marriage, there are few, if any, traces of the features that were impressed there before. ------------------------------------------------------------- 04-21-98