change had taken place. The trees on the distant heights had lost their verdure and their airy character, and were taking the outline of dark pictures graven upon an unfamiliar sky.

The startling effect of such an abnormal transition in nature, upon animals and

PROGRESS OF THE SOLAR ECLIPSE.

fowls, and even upon human beings, has sometimes been described in such a manner as to excite well-grounded suspicions of exaggeration, in the minds of those persons to whom has been denied the opportunity of personal observation. But Mr. Cooper states that "all living creatures seemed thrown into a state of agitation. The birds were fluttering to and fro, in great excitement; they seemed to mistrust that this was not the gradual approach of evening, and were undecided in their movements. Even the dogs became uneasy, and drew closer to their masThe eager, joyous look of interest and curiosity, which earlier in the morning had appeared in almost every countenance, was now changed to an expression of wonder, or anxiety, or thoughtfulness, according to the individual character. Every house now gave up its tenants. As the light failed more and more with every passing second, the children came flocking about their mothers in terror. The women themselves were looking about uneasily for their husbands. The men were very generally silent and grave. Many a laborer left his employment to be near his wife and children, as the dimness and darkness

ters.

clouded days, less rare in America than in Europe. The steadily-waning light, the gradual approach of darkness, became the more impressive as we observed this absolutely transparent state of the heavens. The birds, which a quarter of an hour earlier had been fluttering about in great agitation, seemed now to be convinced that night was at hand. Swallows were dimly seen dropping into the chimneys, the martins returned to their little boxes, the pigeons flew home to their dove-cots, and through the open door of a small barn we saw the fowls going to roost. The usual flood of sunlight had now become so much weakened, that we could look upward long, and steadily, without the least pain. The sun appeared like a young moon of three or four days old, though of course with a larger and more brilliant crescent. One after another, the stars came into view, more rapidly than in the evening twilight, until perhaps fifty stars appeared to us, in a broad dark zone of the heavens, crowning the pines on the western mountain. This wonderful vision of the stars, during the noontide hours of day, filled the spirit with singular sensations. Suddenly, one of my brothers shouted aloud, "The moon!" Quicker than thought, my eye turned eastward again, and there floated the moon, distinctly apparent, to a degree that was almost fearful. The spherical form, the character, the dignity, the substance of the planet, were clearly revealed, as I have never beheld them before, or since. It looked grand, dark, majestic, and mighty. Darkness like that of early night now fell upon the village. A few cows, believing that night had overtaken. them, were coming homeward from the wild open pastures; the dew was falling perceptibly, and the thermometer must have fallen many degrees from the great heat of the morning. The lake, the hills, and the buildings of the little town, were swallowed up in the darkness. All labor had ceased. The plaintive note of the whippowil was distinctly heard. A bat came flitting about our heads. Many stars

scene of awful sublimity. A brilliant amber-colored corona appeared around the sun and moon, shooting rays of light outward in all directions, when the whole horizon was illuminated with light of the same color. The planets Mercury and Venus, and a number of fixed stars, were distinctly visible, but no planetary orbs between Mercury and the sun were discovered. A brilliant rose-colored flame, or protuberance, was noticed on the western limb of the sun during the period of total obscuration. The phenomenon, known as Bailey's beads, was also distinctly witnessed. According to Prof. Peirce, the last-named appearance is occasioned by the refraction of light, and the corona, or halo, at the time of totality, by the sun's atmosphere.

Des Moines, Iowa, afforded another most favorable locality for the presence of astronomers, a slight haze only interfering to prevent satisfactory search for the planets supposed to exist inside the orbit of Mercury. Professor Safford's observations showed that the first contact occurred at three o'clock, forty-three minutes, fortythree seconds; the commencement of the total obscurity was at four o'clock, fortyfive minutes, thirty seconds, and its end was at four o'clock, forty-eight minutes, twenty-two seconds; the last contact was at five o'clock, forty-five minutes, eleven seconds.

It

The points of time thus noted by Professor Safford, were from six to twentytwo seconds later than calculated, according to Washington; E. P. Himenas and Professor Hillyard observing it. A discrepancy was also noticed between the calculation and observation of the corona. was nearly rhomboidal in form, and very distinct and extended, at some points half a degree beyond the edge of the sun's disc. The rose-colored protuberances appeared to the number of five or six, the greatest being on the sun's south-western quarter. Professor Harkness's observations of the protuberances, in the spectroscope, showed a different spectra for each. But a single band was thrown by the corona. Professor Eastman's observations of

the thermometer showed a fall of thirteen degrees in the temperature, during the progress of the eclipse. Venus and Mercury could be plainly seen, and the darkness exceeded that of the night. But the most interesting feature in the aspect of the sun was the protuberances or beads. The largest one was semi-circular in shape, with a finger extending about one-eighth part of the sun's diameter, directly downward as one looked. Another right limb was shaped much like two horns of an antelope. The greatest length of the corona was in the direction of the elliptic. Valuable observations were also made here by Professors Peters, Fraser, Rogers, Norton, and Lane.

Professors Hough and Murray made some valuable observations at Mattoon, Illinois, one of their instruments being provided with means for accurately measuring the diversions of the protuberances on the sun or corona. When the sun became totally obscured, the darkness was equal to that of a moonlight night, and the temperature was forty-two degrees cooler than one hour before. Six spots were visible on the surface of the sun before the eclipse, two of which were very prominent, and the others much less. The cusps on the moon had a ragged and blurred appearance, and, near them, Bailey's beads were seen by all observers, extending through an arc of fifty degrees. The moment the eclipse became total, the flame-like protuberances were seen with wonderful distinctness, one very large on the lower limb of the sun, and three nearly as large on the upper limbs, while at least seven or eight of them in all were visible. The one on the right hand, or lower limb, had somewhat the appearance of a full-rigged ship with sails set. In its part nearest the moon were two or three jet black spots. To the naked eye, it seemed as though there were openings in the moon, two on the east side and one on the south-west side. Just after the total obscurity, through the openings, the lurid glow of the sun was plainly visible. The corona was not, as generally described, a halo of light surrounding the

moon, but appeared in the shape of five forked prongs on the upper circumference of the moon. These points presented a radiant appearance. The generally-received theory regarding this corona-that it is the atmosphere of the sun-did not seem to be sustained by the observations made at this point. Although search was made, no planetary bodies were observed between Mercury and the sun. During the totality phase, Mercury, Venus, Regulus, Mars, Saturn, Denebata, and other stars, appeared in full view. The temperature in the shade, at the beginning of the eclipse, was seventy-seven degrees; during the totality, forty-five degrees; and at the end of the eclipse, it had risen to seventy degrees. At three o'clock and forty minutes, in the sun, on the grass, the thermometer was at one hundred degrees. At a few minutes after four, it rose to one hundred and two degrees, while during the totality it fell to sixty, but subsequently rose to eighty.

Dr. B. A. Gould and Professor Coffin had charge of the observations made at Burlington, Iowa, by direction of the United States government, with whom were also associated Professors Morton, Mayer, Hines, Watson, Merriman, Van Fleck, Johnson, and others, either as observers or visitors. Two points were paid special attention to at this place, namely, a search for those planets which Leverrier supposed to exist between the sun and Mercury, and the character of the corona.

For this purpose, a telescope of peculiar construction was employed, being of the least magnifying power combined with the greatest intensity of light possible. The attempts at measuring the corona were necessarily vague, but its height above the edge of the moon was computed at full sixteen minutes, some four hundred and forty thousand miles,-while the streamers, or longer projections of its light, extended some thirty minutes beyond the surface, the whole diameter of the sun being thirty-two minutes. The color of the moon during the total obscuration was observed, and decided to be not jet black,

as represented by some, but a dark slate color. The corona was an exquisitely pure white, which, as it faded into the dark background of the sky, became gray. It was visible one minute and twenty-six seconds before totality, and one minute after, and was extremely variable in symmetry of form. Three sketches were taken in less than three minutes of the duration, in which the corona showed marked change of outline. The protuberances commonly called rosy, by observers at other places, here looked white to the naked eye, with an opera-glass slightly roseate, and with the telescope red. At the moment of totality, the planets were visible, ranged in perfect brilliancy; Mercury, ruddy as Mars, and Arcturus and Regulus, fixed stars of the first magnitude, were plain to the unassisted eye. The right protuberance on the sun's lower limb had a cellular or honey-combed appearance, not like a flame.

In the search made at Burlington for intra-mercurial planets, the light was shut off of the corona by means of occulting circles, and the region was carefully studied. Search was made for the star Pi Leonis, a fixed star of five and eight-tenths magnitude, fifty minutes distance from the sun, and it was actually seen, yet so faint, that, if it had not been known to be there, it could not have been discovered. there were any star of the fifth or sixth magnitude there, it would have been observed; but no such star could be detected.

If

Great preparations were made at Shelbyville, Kentucky, for a complete observance of the phenomenon. One of the most interesting discoveries made here, by Professor Winlock, at the spectroscope, was that of eleven bright lines in the spectrum of the protuberances of the sun, instead of the smaller number hitherto determined. He also observed a shower of meteors between the earth and moon. The beautiful protuberances appeared as red flames, and were seen by the naked eye. Bailey's beads, as well as the dark and dismal shadows of the moon, sailing

away through the air, were noted. Mr. Searle, whose specialty it was to search for intra-mercurial planets, did not succeed in finding any, reporting nothing fainter than Regulus near the sun. Some moments before the total phase, the usual phenomena of distraction among the birds of the air and the cattle occurred. Six minutes before totality, a deathly ashen hue overspread the countenances of all,

ECLIPSE, AS SEEN IN BRAZIL.

and for a while the faint-hearted were almost terrified. The general phenomena The general phenomena at all the places where the eclipse was complete, or nearly so, were the vacillation of the wind, the deep, strange shadow, the yellowish pink atmosphere in the west, the flickering and wavy appearance of the sun's rays when the eclipse was at its height, the chilly feeling, the disturbance among the birds and fowls, and the sight of certain planets with the naked eye.

At Newbern, North Carolina, the thermometer fell ten and one-half degrees, during the time from first contact to total obscuration. The sky was intensely blue, at totality, and studded with glittering stars, while the north-west glowed with a deep crimson orange hue. Around the black body of the moon glowed a ring of molten silver, whence radiated the corona, an immense halo; and, just as the last rays of the sun disappeared, this halo, with prominent projections like a huge star, burst out all around the disc of the moon, forming a most impressive climax to the whole phenomenon; directly at the bottom, glowed with intense brilliancy a

rose-colored projection, visible to the naked eye; a few seconds more, and another glittered at the extreme right-and then another, and, successively, six or more pale ruby brilliants burned with dazzling effulgence in their silver setting; a second or two more, and the silvering on the right melted into golden beads; another, and the glorious sunlight flashed forth. The corona disappeared. The northern sky was radiant with a new day-break at six o'clock in the afternoon, the dark shadow of the moon swept southward, and the chilly gloominess rolled away into the southern sky. The small amount of light that fell upon the trees and buildings, just before and after the total obscuration, lighted them up with a brilliancy most peculiar; the light was more diffusive than moonlight, and the shadows were more distinctly marked and visible. It was a pale golden light; the edges of the distant woods were more apparent than in the full sunlight, each tree seeming to stand out by itself,-the nearest approach to such a light being that known as the calcium, the latter, however, being white instead of pale golden. At the instant of complete obscuration, when the corona flashed around the dark disc of the moon, there also flashed into view the larger stars and planets. Venus, twice an evening star in one day, hung half-way down from the zenith; near the sun glistened a star of the first magnitude, Regulus; while overhead the intense blue sky was full of them.

Much scientific interest centered around the expedition sent by government to the new and distant territory of Alaska. This expedition left Sitka, July 15th, in an open boat, for the Chilkah river, but, in consequence of bad weather, it was eleven days in reaching the positions selectedonly twenty miles from the central path of totality. It was found impracticable to carry the instruments and provisions over Iron Mountain range, for the determination of the latitude and longitude and the magnetic variation obtained, before the date of the eclipse. The seventh of