The Sun.
London, England, 1851-07-10 00:00:00

HOP INTELLIGENCE:

MAIDSTONE.—The accounts from the plantations are
a shade better this week. The weather has certainly
been in favour of the crop, being such as is proverbially
said to " bring hops out of bare poles." Still there is
abundant cause for apprehension. The vermin has made
a most vigorous attack, and it remains to be seen whe-
ther the plant has constitution enough to resist its effects,
backed as they are by slackness of bine, lateness of
season, and in some places, we hear, mould. A corre-
spondent, whose locality we need not indicate, says—" I
do not speak of any particular parish when I report that
mould is found, but say that it is alarmingly extending." '
FARLEIGII AND YALDING.—The hops do not look so
well this week. Some that were tolerably clean have
got fouler, the lice following the branches; others are
more fire blasted. The nights have been very cold and
the weather for the last few days very ungenial. The
prospect becomes worse as the time draws on•
WATERINGETJAY.—There is a continued increase of
vermin, and the bine in many of the grounds shows
very strongly that it is greatly suffering from the vermin
and the drought, and unless there is an alteration soon
we shall have but very few hone.
MEREWORTII.—We have here fire blast, vermin, and
honey dew upon the increase, and also slack bine; as
such there is not much chance of a crop; the hops have
not looked so bad be!ore for years.
pa-
rish in Nhrr —There are some grounds in this pa-
good quantity of bine, but ver-
minesL,hEiBcTrtp.re
is a
he
and honey dew, and the apparent want of rain,
very unhealthy appearance.
give gi the bine a
Loosz•—We have cohsiderable improvement in the
growth of bine since my last report, but there is still
much vermin following the young shoots, and a slight
sprinkling of fly. There is rather a large number of
niggers. and an appearance of a succession, which ie the
only thing favourable. It is the opinion of every planter
that they are in a most uncertain state.
AYLESroaD.—The vermin are on the decrease, and
with but favourable weather there is now a prospect of
gro4ing some hops on the gond grounds.
OTHAM.—The hop-grounds in this parish are very
unevei; our best grounds have made considerable pro-
cress, but the slack groeuds, of which we have many,
have advanced but little. We have still some fly and
l.ce, but not sufficient at present to cause alarm. The
grape grounds are buffering from the drought and are
urning yellow.

ULCOMBE.—The greater part of our plantations con-
Litiue in a very sickly state; the lice follow up the young
?shoots, and honey dew is dripping from the leaves; the
bine is at a stand still in many grounds; there are soma
tew exceptions in the best goldings upon the Rock,
where they are still growing.
BROOMFIELD.—We are rather improving, but have
too much company to be pleasant; we have never been so
foul as some of our neighbours.
WROTHAM (Town District.)—The warm weather has
forced the strong bines on very rapidly this last week, in
which there is apparently less vermin, but still sufficient
to injure them should the weather take an unfavourable
turn; the weak bine grounds, of which there are several,
have made but little progress, are loaded with lice and
nits; the fly is pretty mush dead, leaving their progeny
to do the mischief.

OTFORD ♦ND SHOREHAX.—The vermin have de-
creased considerably the last few days, and there is a
chance in some of the grounds of growing two bags per
acre.

TONBRIIDGE.—In some instances we note an improve-
ment since last we,•lr, in others the contrary. After one
or two heavy mornings that we have experienced, fresh
fly was found on the mid shoots.
SWANSCOMBE.—Since the rains we have less fly, and
s,me grounds certainly are much cleaner pit continue
growing, promising a moderate crop; others are swarm-
ing witn lice and honey dew, with a very bad appear-
ance of any hops.
STAPLELIURST.—We have received fresh swarms of
fly in our grounds within the last few days, which are
committing great ravages; honey dew also has spread
much in the grounds; the grounds appear in a very pre-
carious state.

CRANBROOL—Since our last re port the weather has
continued favourable to the growth of the bine—the
gentle irrigation of the grounds on Tuesday last, accom-
panied as it was by a copious discharge of electricity
from " nature's battery," has operated as an abstergent,
and has imparted a fieshness and vigour to the plant
which will no doubt be productive of good. Some of
our plantations now present to the eye of a superficial
observer a picturesque and pleasing appearance. The
poles are " in verdure clad," and the young and tender
offshoots (which have till now displayed considerable re-
luctance to advance) are evincing a desire to " make
friends," but on a close examination it is found, that like
the enchanted fruit in the palace of a sorcerer, the ob-
ject of our admiration loses its attraction as soon as it is
grasped by the adventurer a band, for on turning up the
leaves myriads of fly and lice are still observable. On
the other hand, however, there is a large quantity of
niggers as well as fly goliii.ngs, which may bo seen sedu-
lously trucidating tne " warming," and we think in the
aggregate we are jaslified in reporting an improvement
upon our lat.t wet k's statement o❑ this subj,ct.
RoLvENDEN—Maey i f our pknta'ions are very foul,
arid consult•rable honey dew at the same time; there is
great increase of the nigger, and some of our grounds
are c!e,.
- -

HoßsmoNDE.v.—Our hops are still very foul, though
W. fancy ito re is a slight decrease in the lico. The bite
continues w wow, the but weather being much in their
tav,nr.

CANTERBURY.—There aprvlrs little variation in the
gronuos since le,t week, excepting the appearance of
tr,noy do.w in some instances. Rain is sadly wanted.
The bile g,ows vigorou,,ly, and his now " shuking
hand," across some of the al:eys. General accounts
speak of the bite bring beset by vermin, and of the pre-
valence of h.iney de. —the chances being against a
crop.—Maid6tone Journal.

RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS.
BRISTOI, JULY 9.

STOCK ExcHANGE.—The share market was flat, holders of
stock being anxious for a rise, but purchasers wera not in-
clined to advance over yesterday's rates.
LIVERPOOL. JULT 9.
91'00C EXCHANGE. The business to-day was again
limited, and prices exhibit a tendency to droop. The
transactions were as follow :—Birkenhead, Lancashire, at,d
Cheshire, 221. Shares, i % dis.—Lancashire and Yorkshire, 51,4
—London and North-Western, 123—Ditto, New Quarters,
p.—Blanchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, 281/2—
Midland, 45—Ditto, Halves, 113: dis.— South-Eastern and
Dover, 22,g—York and North Midland, 18%.
MANCHESTER, JULY 9.

STocx Excmores.—The share market was a little more
steady to-day, but the business done has been limited, at
firm prices. The transactions were as follow :—Birkenhead,
Lancashire, and Cheshire Junction, 12 3-16 dis.—East Lan-
cashire, Quarters, 14 1 1-16—Lancashire and Yorkshire, 511 A,
—London and North-Western, Manchester and Birmingham,
Quarters (C), 2 3-16 p.—Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln-
shire, 101. Preference, 1138—South-Eastern and Dover,
22 11-IG.

MEAT Mit Itac.l3l'3.
SOUTHALL, JULY 9 —For each kind of fat stock—
the supply of which was tolerably good—the demand
ruled steady, at full prices. Beef, from 2s 8d to 3s 8d;
Mutton, 3s to 3s 10d; Lamb, 4s to 4a 8d; Veal, 3s to
33 6d; and Pork, 3s to 35 6d per Blbs, to sink the offal.
IiONFORD, JULY 9.—Our market has ruled firm, to-
day, at our quotations. Beef, from 25 8d to 3s 10d;
Mutton, 3s to 4s; Lamb, 4s to ss; Veal, 3s to 3s 6,1;
Pork, 23 Sd to 33 6d per 81b5. Suckling Calves, 18s
to 20s; quarter old Store Pigs, 16s to 193; and Mulch
Cows, with their small Calf, 161 to 181 each.
LEWIS, JULY B.—Beef, from 33 to 4s; Mutton, 3s 4d
to 4s; Lamb, 4s 6d to 4s 8d; Veal, 33 to 3s 6d per 81bs.
A moderate supply and a steady demand.

TITHE REDEMPTION TEUST.—A meeting of the
board of this society was held yesterday at their offices, No.
1, Lancaster-place, Waterloo-bridge ; Lord John Manners,
M.P., in the chair. Numerous fresh cases requesting infor-
mation and advice, from parishes where the tithes are ale-
niated, were gone into, some of which seemed to require
chiefly the energy of the incumbents themselves and their
friends to apply for aid to the trustees of clerical and other
corporations in whom the power over the alienated tithes of
their parishes is vested; others were cases in which pecu-
niary assistance from the trust might be obtained, did the
present state of the society's funds admit of it immediately
undertaking any fresh cases. An earnest hope was ex-
pressed that the parties who are now taking an active part
in the matter of " Church extension" would direct their at-
tention lo the vast amount of lay and clerical tithe' alienated
from the Church as the most available and most legitimate
means of endowment for the new churches they are proposing
to build.

Ax OLD PRINTER.—A W. Stowell, a printer, 80
years of site—the oldest in the United States—commenced
his apprentic, ship of 7 years i , the King's printing-office,
London, in 1784, 68 years ago. The Boston Mail says .
He was a soldier under Sir John Moore at Corunna in 1809,
where he received a ball in his righeurm. He was present
ut the burial of Sir John, rnd remembers the minutest par-
ticulars of the scene. He was also with the Duke of Wel-
iit his whole campaign, and lost an ankle bone
by
shot
in the battle of Waterloo. This veteran
igaton grapet hg h
typo, aster all his hard service, is one of the swiftest and
best compositors in Boston."—/Veto York Journal of Com-
merce.
mogE MILITARY RIOTING IN LIVERPOOL.—NO
sooner had the 91st Regiment been removed from Everton
Barrack (some being sent to Manchester
°there to Bury
and Preston, and the head-quarters to Chester) than the
28th Regiment occ
ied their places, and, it would seem,
took up their want
of hostility to the police. On -
suc-
cessive evenings thi
k collisions have taken
place be-
tliep
two s
wee
be-
tween the two forces--in more than one instance, of a most
desperate kind. Policeman 174 was attacked the other
and when
between the soldiers and
assistance arrived a general melee
and good conduct,
police took plat.. B great forbearance
evening most brutaly by a soldier of the 28th,
any dangerous results
the police succeeded yi, preventing
barracks had been procured, to whose custody
from this amount of nviolence until a picquet from. the
,00nnsonathee
soldiers were consigned, and no doubt they will be severely
the delinquent
We understand
dealt with by the military authorities.
t4himatenatcosTuiritl-mbearhteialdl
duty when the late conflicts were waging between the men
of that regiment and the officers of the Liverpool consta-
ofchthaergoeffiocferbseionfg tahbese9nitstfrlotme-
bulary.
DEPARTURE or THE PACIFIC.—The United States
Mail steam-ship Pacific, Captain Nye, left the Mersey yes-
tarday (Wednesday) afternoon, at four o'clock, for New
York direct, having on board the mails for the 1.. T • States, 1
United
Canada, Newfoundland, &c.

WATERFORD, JULY B.—Wind N.N.W.—Arrd. Mar-
met, Trinidad; John Bell, Quebec,

THE TOTAL ECLIPSE of THE SUN

ON JULY 28.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—The aproaching eclipse of the sun on Monday,
July 28, is the only one that will be total in parts easily
accessible from this country for many years to come, and
for this reason it is not improbable many continental
tourists may be induced to locate themselves on the line
of the total phase in order to witness the grand natural
phenomena that occur on such occasions. The more ob-
servers there are the better, and it is a matter of fact
that amateurs have hitherto succeeded quite as well as
professed astronomers in their descriptions and observa-
tions. On this account I beg to send you the following
summary of the most remarkable appearances, celestial
and terrestrial, which have been noticed in past years, in
the hope that it may be acc9ptable to many who have no
oupbpjocttriltypr oefficxon a consulting
wortkos the eclipse
upon the
wtinpgaartsitcruolnaorms relativeical
of the 28th of this month.
The last total eclipse of the sun visible in London
ser
took place in April, 1715, and there will be no other till
the morning of August 19, 1887. The eclipse of the
present year will be total in the southern parts of Nor-
way and S weden, in northern Prussia, Poland, and Russia;
the principal places within the zone covered by the
moon's shadow being Christiania Bergen, the well.
known port of Gothenburg, Christiania,
Dantzic,
Konigsberg, and Warsaw. The eclipse will be more
or less visible to the whole of North America, the
North Atlantic Ocean down to the thirtieth degree of
latitude, the whole of Europe, and the northern part of
Africa. The total eclipse will commence on the N.W.
coast of North America, near Queen Charlotte's Island,
traversing the continent of America, over the Rocky
Mountains, to the Slave Lake, which will be in
entire darkness at lb. 30 P.M. Greenwich time.
Afterwards the central line past,es over Melville penin-
sula into Greenland, where it arrives at 2h. 5. Hence
it passes north of Iceland, and reaches the coast of
Norway, at a place called Brxkke, about forty miles
north of Bergen, the total eclipse extending at this
time over a zone 150 miles Frond. Its after course lies
in the direction of the town of Elbing, near the coast of
Prussia, between Dantzie and Konigsberg, thence
acrozs the south-west ot Russia, near Kobrin, in the
province of Grodno, Jitomir, and Ivanovka, to the Sea
ot As )v, which will be involved in darkness about 6h.
P.M, local time, while the sun is yet at a considerable
altitude in the heavens.

By a special calculation of the circumstances of the
phenomenon for Christiania, we find the total eclipse
will begin at 3h. 46m. r et. mean time at that place,
and end at 3b. 48m. 475., so that the duration of total
darkness wilt be 2m. 445. Similarly, by calculating the
condition for Gothenburg, in Sweden, it appears that the
total phase will commence at 3h. 54m. 495. P.M., and end
at 3h. 58w. 7d. local time. At Dernxe the last ray of
the suu will vanish 4h. 30w. 555. P.m., the darkness
ending at 4h. 33w. 595. At Koaigsberg this phase will
commence at 411. 38m. Bs., and end at 4h. 41w. 13.. The
sue will be hidden at t3ergen 3m. 225., at Carlskrona 3w.
195., and at Warsaw lna. 575.
In London about 82-100tha of the suts's disc will be
covered by the moon, and tethough some degree of ob.
scurity must necessarily take place, it is not likely to be
very great. The gloom, however, is usually of a peculiar
nature, sensibly different from that caused by is clouded
sky, and if the heavens are overceet at the time, a mist
has sometimes risen as the greatest phase approached,
giving the surrounding landscape the same appearance
that we notice early on a dull October morning. In the
metropolis the eclipse will commence at four minutes
after 2 o'clock P x., and will end at a quarter past 4;
the middle or greatest phase will take place at 12 minute.
after 3 o'clock, and at this moment the sun will appear
as a narrow crescent, having the convex border towards
the horizon.
The progress of a solar eclipse after the first contact
of the moon with the sun's limb is not usually of any
particular interest, even to the astronomer, until a short
time before his disc is wholly obscured by our satellite.
The diminution of light then becomes very marked, and
the darkness rapidly deepens as the centres of the sun
and moon approach, the final extinction of the sun's
rays being always very sudden. As soon as the total
eclipse has commenced, or, according to some accounts,
a few seconds before the narrow solar crescent has
vanished, a very beautiful appearance presents itself, in
the form cf a luminous corona, or border of light, which
surrounds the sun and moon during the continuance
of the total eclipse, and disappears within a few seconds
of the time when the first returning ray is seen. It
has been described as composed of a circular zone con-
tiguous to the dark border of the moon, and of a
second zone, less luminous, contiguous to the first.
But the greater number of the observers of the eclipse
of July, 1842, do not allude to any second zone of light
further distant from the moon's limb than the brighter
one, the intensity of light appearing to them to dimi-
nish very gradually from the dark border of the moon
until it assimilated itself with the general ground colour
of the heavens. Other observers compare it to the
"glory" with which the painters surroutel the heads of
saints, divergent rays of light streaming off from the
moon's limb in every direction. Others, while giving
the corona the same general form as before, rater to
certain rays, or aigrettes, as the French term them,
extending beyond the auroleola. The brightness of
the corono varies greatly at different stations during
the same eclipse, according to atmospheric conditions,
and possibly with
.some regard to the altitude of the
sun and moon above the horizon. In the total eclipse
of July, 1842, the light was so intensely brilliant at
Lipesk, in Russia, that the eye supported it with
difficulty, and many pence's doubted it the sun had
really vanished. Yet in France and I'aly its brightness
was far interior; the light was not strung enough to
throw a perceptible shadow, and one observer at Padua
estimated its intensity to be that of the full moon as 1
to 7. As might be expected, there i a similar want of
accordauce with regal d to the colour of the lumitnosity
forraieg the corona. In 1842 some persons, who 'a ere
wont favourably si; uated and under the best atmospheric
coudnions, considered it perfectly ehite without the
slightest tinge of colour during its continuance. At
Moan it was straw-coloured, and the astronomers of the
Observatory at Paris, who went to the south of France
to make their observations, agree in giving a yellowish
tinge. On previous occasions it hiss been described
as pearl or peach-culoured, reddish, golden yellow, ur
presenting the hues of the rainbow. In 1706 it was like
a ring of geld at Nuremourg. The breadth has also
been variously estimated. At Perpignan iu 1842, the
light of the corona could be traced to a distance equal to
one-third Le tie moon's app.:x.olft diameter from her bor-
der. At Lipesk, where it wise so advantageously viewed,
some of the rays attained a distance of six or eight lunar
diameters. The Astronomer Royal observing at the r
Superga, near Turin, assigned the corona au angular
dimension or only one-eighth of the moon's apparent
breadth. Some observers have drawn attention to en ap-
parent flickering and whirling motion of the corona, re-
aemblieg the effects produced by certain kinds of fire-
works. At Lipesk, iu 1842, this luminous ring was in
a state of violent agitation.
But the moat remarkable phenomenon during a total
eclipse, and that which must excited the attention
of astronomers in July, 1842, is the sudden visi-
bility of rose-coloured prominences, or " red flames"
as they are usualiy called, in different positions on
the dark border of the moon, and projected on the
light of the corona. Their appearance is always instan-
taneous, and the same form is preserved as long as they
are visible. At some places three or more were
seen, in others only two; generally they were perceived
on the northern limb of the moon at distances of thirty
degrees or upwards from each other. M. Arago says
they were of is rosy-tint, but with a violet-hue in some
points (possibly from the effect of contrast), and at-
tained an altitude of more than one minutes of arc from
the moon's limb. Other astronomers compare them
to the snowy summits of the Alps illumined by the
rising or setting sun, and the resemblance was further
strengthened by the immobility of the protuberance
and the absence of all appearance of scintillation.
Professor Santini, of Padua, calls them " pyramids of
fire," and an observer at Milan compares them to
" burning coals." Many authorities, while agreeing
in the general reddish colour of these prominences,
mention the purplish or violet hues of certain points,
and also record the appearance of a border of rosy
light round a considerable extent of the moon's limb.
During the eclipse of August, 1850, which was total
at Honolulu, in the Sandwich Islands, it was re-
marked that the red flames were largest on the eastern
limb at the commencement of total darkness, but the
dark body of the moon seemed gradually to cover them
as it advanced across the stn in an easterly direction,
and as gradually to render visible more and more of
the red flames on the opposite limb. This is pre•
cisely the effect that should be produced, supposing
them to exist in the upper regions of the solar
atmosphere, and the observation consequently very
much strengthens the view taken with respect to the na-
ture of the rose-coloured prominences by M. Arago. It
was further remarked at Honolulu that in the poise
point occupied by the eastern protuberance a dark spot
was visible when that purtiou of the sun's surface vies
brought irate view some days afterwards by his axial
rotation. These facts will add to the interest attaching
to the observations of the approaching eclipse.
The corona and red flames are the most conspicuous
celestial phenomena during a total eclipse of the
and at the same time the most important as bearing
upon the physical structure of that luminary. But there
are others which well deserve attention at the hands of
such observers as are provided with telescopes of mo.
derma power. Amongst these may be instanced the
visibility of the contour of the moon which is off tile
sun's disc prior or subsequent to the total phase, and
even before the fiat contact of the -sun and moon ;
the appearance of ft idles of white or coloured light
over the surface of our satellite as the eclipse pregresses;
the illumination of solar spots near the moon's edke ;
peculiar colour of portions of her disc, as black with a
blue girdle, reddish purple gradually darkening towards
the centre, or dusky gray brighter towards the sun;
a greater or less illumination of the entire disc of the
moon and the visibility of the spots upon her sur-
fsce ; the formation of what are termed " Bally's
beads, " or bright drops, which become visible when
the uneclipsed portion of the sun is very narrow,
i e., immediately before the commencement and after
the end of the total eclipse, &c. It appears to be highly
desirable that the positions et the solar spots should be
determined with some degree of accuracy fourteen days
before and after the eclipse, and I will venture to suggest
this class of observation to amateur astronomers who are
provided with suitable means. Those portions of the
sun's disc which preeentfaculee' or streaks of a brighter
character than the greater part of his surface, should
also be noticed.

As already remarked, the diminution of light is not
usually very great until about a quarter of an hour belore
the commencement of the total eclipse. The brighter
planets then become visible to the naked eye, and when
the sun is wholly obscured, stars of the first and
d magnitudes come into view. In 1842 the
second wagnits come Into View. In 1842 the
greatgreatest