TOTAL ECLIPSES OF THE SUN. not gathered round us as other darkness does it had swept on from one quarter of the heavens to the other; and we saw it coming from one side, while the other was still light. Now it seemed to rise up at once from us, as if it lifted its great wings and gathered itself up. We saw from whence it came; we saw not whither it went." It was remarked by Captain (now Colonel) Biddulph, R.A., who observed, in 1851, at Dröbak, Norway, that during the time the Sun was covered the light reflected from most of the common objects near him was of a deep blue purple. He had collected a few wild flowers, blue and yellow, and some red strawberries, which he formed into a group. He found that the red was not reflected at all, blue tolerably, yellow not. Some blossoms of clover, which were more of a crimson purple, were slightly distinguishable. Captain Biddulph considered that the darkness was greater than at the preceding midnight. The darkness of the midnight of southern Norway in the month of July is not, however, very intense. Mr. Hind, at Rævelsberg, noticed that, five minutes before totality, the whole landscape appeared gloomy and unnatural; the sky being intensely blue and the air strikingly chilly. After a short interval, the southern heavens became of a deep sombre purple, or purplish grey, the corona distinct to the naked eye; while in the zenith and northwards, the sky appeared as if it had closed in, and was of an intense violet colour. Near the horizon, from the N.N.W. to E.N.E., the sky was occupied with bands of a deep orange red, with intermediate spaces of a purple hue, forming the most astonishing and appalling phenomenon that it is possible to imagine. In the eclipse of 1860, Mr. Airy considered that the darkness was not so great as on the two previous occasions. Mr. De La Rue, who observed this eclipse at Rivabellosa, near Miranda de Ebro, observes that, when he had once turned his eyes on the Moon, encircled by the glorious corona, then on the novel and grand spectacle presented by the surrounding landscape, and had taken a hurried look at the wonderful appearance of the heavens, so unlike anything he had ever before witnessed, he felt so completely enthralled by the scene that he had to exercise the utmost self-control to tear himself away from a view at once so impressive and magnificent. It was with a feeling of regret that he was obliged to give up the sight and continue his selfimposed duties. Mr. Airy, with several members of his family, observed this eclipse at Hereña, near Miranda. At this station Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter, and six of the principal stars, were distinctly seen. What struck Mr. Airy most, concerning the darkness, was the great brilliancy of Jupiter and Procyon so near to the Sun. It was impossible that they could have been seen at all, except under the circumstance of total absence of illumination in that part of the atmosphere through which their light passed. At the moment of totality, according to Mrs. Airy, the whole air was at once filled with darkness, which had been seen rapidly approaching from the north-west. A sensation of cold was felt, and Mrs. Airy was glad to wrap herself up in a Scotch plaid. At the end of totality the dark shadow was seen distinctly sweeping along the valley to the south-east, a path of darkness, and the clear daylight breaking out behind it: De Louville states that the darkness in London, in 1715, was so great that three planets, and several stars down to the second magnitude, were visible. He has also recorded that the London atmosphere of 150 years ago had, even then, an unenviable notoriety for its impurity; for he says that "it was a piece of good fortune at this time to have found in London an interval of clear sky. It is, indeed, so rare to see the Sun in that city, either from cloud or smoke, that, during the month in which I resided there, I do not believe the sky was clear on more than three days." During the eclipse of 1868, the observers report generally that the darkness was much less than what was expected, considering the great duration of the total obscuration. Major Tennant remarks that at Guntoor the colour of the sky was not half so gloomy as at Delhi during the partial eclipse of 1857. Nearly all the American astronomers who observed the total eclipse of August 7th, 1869, under the most favourable circumstances possible, have remarked that the darkness during the total obscuration of the Sun was considerable, in appearance very similar to that of a moonlight night. At Springfield, Illinois, where the sky was perfectly cloudless, several of the planets and fixed stars were distinctly visible, including Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Arcturus, and Regulus. A special, but unsuccessful, search was also made for the supposed intra-Mercurial planet, Vulcan. No favourable total eclipse of the Sun has occurred, without many anecdotes being related concerning the effects produced by the sudden darkness on the peasantry, animals, and plants. The following is a translation of one which appeared in the "Journal of the Lower Alps" of July 9th, 1842: A poor child of the commune of Sièyes was watching her flock when the eclipse commenced. Entirely ignorant of the event which was approaching, she saw with anxiety the Sun darken by degrees; for there was no cloud or vapour visible which might account for the phenomenon. When the light disappeared all at once, the poor child, in the height of her terror, began to weep and call out for help. Her tears were still flowing when the Sun again sent forth his first ray. Reassured by the aspect, the child crossed her hands, exclaiming, in the patois of the province, “O beou souleou!" (O beautiful Sun!) Mr. Fox Talbot, who, in 1851, was at Marienburg, Prussia, has related the following:-On the morning of the eclipse, a Prussian officer, with whom he had been conversing, remarked that the only observation he intended to make would be this-that he should mount his horse, and ride alone by the side of the river, to see what effect, if any, would be experienced by his horse. On Mr. Talbot meeting the officer in the evening of the same day, the latter was asked whether he had put his purpose into execution. He replied that he had done so, and had very nearly lost his life in consequence; for the animal was seized with such a panic terror on the extinction of the Sun that he was scarcely able to master him, and both steed and rider were in the utmost danger of being precipitated into the river. TOTAL ECLIPSES OF THE SUN. The following illustration of superstitious fear, which frequently takes hold of the minds of the peasantry, came under the notice of the author in 1851, at Christiania. A respectable old woman was in the habit of daily supplying the principal hotel with wild strawberries. On the Saturday preceding the eclipse, she begged of the landlord to take an extra quantity of strawberries, as she had been told that the philosophers at the college had said that on Monday the Sun would disappear from the heavens. Thinking that this was a sign that the end of the world was approaching, she could not think of coming into the city on that day, for she wished to remain at home to say her prayers. In contrast to this, Lieutenant Krag saw an old woman quietly light her candle, and with perfect indifference continue her work. Of animals, the greatest consternation is generally seen in birds. This has been noticed in every eclipse. In 1715 De Louville remarked that shortly before the Sun was totally eclipsed the cocks began to crow as at daybreak; during the darkness they were silent; but as soon as the Sun reappeared they recommenced with increased animation. At the total obscuration, birds hid themselves in extraordinary places, but seemed themselves again on the return of the light. Fowls were seen to prepare for roosting, as in the shades of evening. At Christiania, in 1851, a bird in a neighbouring bush was keeping us company with a merry song. At the instant of totality our friend suddenly ceased; but when the first solar ray again illumined the heavens he recommenced his former song. In the midst of the darkness some crows rose together and flew irregularly about, uttering what appeared to us at the time unearthly cries. An amusing anecdote on the effect produced on an old negro and his flock of hens during the total eclipse of the Sun of August 7th, 1869, has been related by Dr. C. H. F. Peters, director of the observatory of Hamilton College, Clinton, New York. The negro was requested to pay particular attention to the movements of the hens, for he was told that at a quarter to five they would all go to roost. After the totality was over, he came to Dr. Peters, evidently under great excitement. "How was it?" said the doctor. "Beats de debbil," said the negro. "When de darkness come, ebry chick'n run for de hole in de barn. De fust ones got in, and de next ones run ober one anudder, and de last ones dey just squat right down in de grass. How long you know dis ting was a coming?" "Oh! I reckon we knew it more than a year," said the doctor. "Beats de debbil! Here you away in New York knowed a year ago what my chick'ns was gwine to do dis bery afternoon, an' you nebber see de chick'ns afore nudder!" The effect of the darkness on plants and flowers has been observed frequently. The leaves and petals of most sensitive flowers have been seen to close, particularly the flowers of the silk-acacia tree, convolvulus, and other plants of that nature. THE MOON. "By thy command the Moon, as daylight fades, Ten thousand stars adorn her glittering train, Fall when she falls, and rise with her again; And o'er the deserts of the sky unfold Their burning spangles of sidereal gold; Through the wide heavens she moves serenely bright, BROOME. EXT to the "greater light that rules the day," the most conspicuous object in the heavens, as well as the most attractive, is the constant attendant of the Earth in its annual course around the Sun, the Moon, or the "lesser light that rules the night." It is probable that many people even look upon our nearest companion in space with far more interest than upon the brilliant Sun itself; not so much, however, for the delineations of light and shade exhibited on the lunar disk, as for the continual change of form to which it is subject on account of its rapid movement around the Earth, from which it is distant about 238,000 miles. The time occupied by the Moon in performing a complete journey around its primary is 27d 7h 43m 11-461s, called its sidereal period. The lunar month is longer than the sidereal period by 2a 5h 0m 51.41, in consequence of the progressive motion of the Earth in its orbit in the interval between two consecutive conjunctions of the Moon. Our satellite must therefore pass through an additional arc, equivalent to that apparently traversed by the Sun since the previous conjunction, before it can assume the same phase, or be again in a line with the Sun and Earth. The interval of a lunar month is known as the synodical period. Astronomers of all nations have made the Moon an object of observation and THE MOON. research to a far greater extent than any other member of the solar system. Some have made careful delineations of the lunar disk, tracing with the utmost accuracy the form and relative distribution of the numerous features seen on the surface. Others, again, have investigated the peculiar motion of the Moon in its orbit, by means of the accurate lunar observations made at fixed observatories, principally, however, at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. These researches, usually undertaken by the highest class of mathematicians, are of the greatest importance to the master-mariner, who, by the use of the positions of the Moon given in the Nautical Almanack, and computed from tables formed directly from the labours of the astronomer, is enabled |