The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-19 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sir,—Although the eclipse of this day will pro-
bably have been seen in London without inter-
ruption from clouds' sufficient to disappoint the ge-
neral observer, the sky was too much obscured
in the direction of the sun to enable us to ascer-
tain the times of beginning and ending satisfac-
torily ; indeed, at the ending the sun' was quite
invisible. At lh. 38m. 245., or ten seconds before
the calculated time of commencement at this
observatory, the eclipse had certainly not be-
gun. On the next view of the sun, at lh. 39m.
11s., the indentation of the moon upon his disc was
very perceptible. I cannot speak positively. as to
the precise time of commencement, but 1 imagine it
must have been later than the moment predicted
lh. 38m. 345.). probably by between 20 and 30
seconds. This difference can haYdly arise from
absolute errors in the places of the sun and moon,
though it is not too great to be produced by the
correction which the assumed ratio of the diameters
may require.
With adequate ,Jnagnifying power on Mr.
Bishop's 10-feet equatorial telescope, inequalities
'on the preceding and following limbs of the moon
were very distinct ; they were great enough to
render pretty certain the visibility of Baily's beads
in the line of totality. Three solar spots were
visible to the naked eye.
At 2h. 29m. there was, to my eye, a ,perceptible
diminution of sunlight, and the blue of the sky, in
breaks towards the N.E., was certainly deepening.
At 2h. 32m. sensibly cooler. At 211. 34m. the de-
crease in daylight was more perceptible, but a
rather heavy nimbus cloud in the N.W. probably
heightened the efl'ect of the eclipse. At 2h. 37m.
a large expanse of clear blue sky in the south ; the
blue was not of the ordinary tint—it appeared
duller, or more of .an indigo-blue ; the air very
chilly. At 2h. 42m.; about six minutes previous
to the greatest eclipse, the deeper colour of the sky
was very marked, in a break N.W. of the zenith.
Near the horizon a mistiness had arisen,.obscuring
objects which were distinct enough at the beginning
of the eclipse. A.t 2h. 48m., about the time of
middle, with the sun shining clearly, the light
thrown over the grounds of the Park was yellow,
as frequently remarked on previous occasions when
the sun has been equally obscured.
At 3h. the eclipse was evidently lessening its
effects, and six minutes later there was a very con-
siderable difference in the blue of the sky, where it
had been most changed. At 3h. 14m. the sun had
almost recovered his full power.
The following observations of the times of con-
tact of the moon's limb with spots upon the sun's
disc were taken by Mr. C. G. Talmage, assistant at.
this observatory

h. m. s.
First contact with large dark 5p0t..... 1 54 51
Central bisection .. 1 55 32
Last contact 1 56 14
• •
First contact of W. spot of two 2 44 9
Last contact 2 44 28
First contact of E. spot 2 44 44
Last c0ntact........
A dark spot wholly emerged 2 59 32
Another spot clear of the moon 3 26 20
At 2h. 30m. Mr. Talmage considered the sky
much darker than five minutes previously, it had the
appearance of a November sky just before a snow-
storm. At 2h. 37m. the light of the sky was similar
to that of a summer's morning about half an hour
before sunrise. At 2h: 49m. (the time of greatest
Highgate Church, visible at the commence-
nit could not be discerned ;it was seen again at
30h: ia3 eclipse), I
1
At lh. 40m. the thermometer stood at
at 2h. 30m. the reading was 69.3 deg.,
and :fi.
4h.
68.8 deg. Thus, towards the time of
eeel
greatest
phage The temperature fell 1 deg. in 50
minutes, but only 0.5 deg. in the next hour and a
half. I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,
J. R. HIND,
Mr. Bishop's Observatory, Regent's Park,
Wednesday night.

TO THE EDITOR. OF THE SUN.
Sir,—l beg to forward a few particulars of the
meteorological phenomena observed to-day at this
station.

As mine is merely a meteorological, not astrono-
mical observatory, I shall not allude to any tele-
scopic observations but one, by which the error of
my chronometer may be ascertained. The last con-
tact appeared to occur at 3h. 54m. 225. p.m. ; this
is within lOseconds of the time calculated for Green.
wich, so I presume my time is sufficiently near the
truth for meteorological purposes.
I shall also omit all reference to the effect on the
landscape. I saw none beyond a diminution of the
light, which, as in 1858, when I observed the annular
eclipse at Oundle, bore more resemblance to the ap-
proach of a heavy shower than anything else; it
should, however, be borne in mind that those who
have been using coloured glasses on powerful telex
scopes may, by that very fact, be led to form most
erroneous opinions.

I have selected a series of quarter-hourly obser-
vations, which will, I trust be sufficient for ordi-
nary comparison ; readings were, however, taken
every five minutes from one to four p.m., and are
available for those who may require them. In
forming the annexed table two instruments have
been used, which have been prepared for the occa-
sion by Negretti and Zambra. A brief description
Bulb in Sun" is, as its name implies, con-
:tfrßtuhleaetcekd with the bulb of black glass, and is di-
vided to each degree on its own stem ; the other,
"Black Bulb in Vacuum," is a similar thermometer,
except that , it is divided to half-degrees, and is
p
laced in an exhausted glass globe of about three
inches in diameter.
The barometer was only read occasionally, as the
very careful observations in 1858 failed to show any
variation which could be connected with the eclipse.
The highest temperature in the shade during the

In conclusion, .1 wish to refer to a Series of Ao-
tometrie measurements which have been Made .by
means of prepared photographic paper, sections of
which were exposed to the sun's rays for five-
,mintitely intervals from 1 25 to 4 15 p.m.; the re-
sult is Et•grftduatd scale of fiats, of the lyzauty and
utility of whiehtl: am not, of course, an impartial
juige, but I shall intrust the record to Negretti for
the purpose of having it copied (by photography)
on a small scale for private distribution among
those who are interested in such matters; they
therefore can form their own opinions.—l am, sir,
your ob3dien t-servant: G. J. SYMONS.
129, Camden-road Villas, July 18.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONg,I CAMDEN-TOWN,
LONDON, JULY 18, 1860.

In Shade. ln Suh. Barci- ..,„.;
1
1 ' Dry Bulb Wet Bulb =O,
Black- reduced .0....
Black
Time. Thermo- Thermo- Bulb., Vacuum.
in to Sea EQ.
~
meter. meter. Vacuum. Level. "`l6l
--
Deg. Deg. : Deg. Deg. Inches. 0-10
9 a.m... 52.1 571, 614 719 29.867 7
10 a.m... ' 634 582 661 771 .. 8
11'a.m... 649 551 , 68-2 .794 .. 7
Noon .... . 654 58.5 -671 811 3 ~.;1' 8
015 p.m. 671 59-4 . 74.6 '791 .. 7
030 p.m, 66-2 581 689 78.5 .. S
0 45 p.m. 674 '5Bl- 702 79-5 .. 6
1 0 p.m. 681 58.5 704 BP2 .. 7
1 15 p.m. 70.4 6Ol 791 969 • ' 8
1 30 p.m. 65%5 574 671 I 79.3 .. 8
145 p.m. 66'6 -581. 691 1 77.8' .. 8
2 0 p.m. 68.5 58.9 72.3 84'2 • . . 8
2'15 p.m . 681 59.2 70.7 86.0 29 810 5
230 p.m. 057 . 5&1 67.8 761. .. - 5
2 45 p.m. 63.3 55 9 6:39 66.3 .. 7
3 0 p.m. 631 55.8 639 66..! .. 8
3 15 p.m. 639 571 651 599 .. 7
330 p.m. 63.7 56.0 651 . 69.3 2J *8 37 , 6
3 45 p.m. 644 574 659 72.6 .. 9
4 0 p.m. - 61.9 58-J 66.9 73.3 .. 9
415 p.m. 641 574 659 69 0 . , 8
430 p.m. 534 - 56.5 619 684 . 29.-845 6
4 45 p.m. 631 561 641 .709 . • 5
5 0 p in. 64.5 577 . 649 72.5 .. . 8
6 0 p.m. '619 559 629 ' 634 .. 7
,7 0 p.m. 599 524 . 609 55.5 . .. 9
THE ECLIPSE AND THE INSULATION OF

AND THE
TELEGRAPHIC, N

THE ECLIPS.

NSU LATION OF
MIRES.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sir,—During the progress of the eclipse this day
I made the following experiment to ascertain its
effect upon the insulation of telegraphic wires. An
iron wire; No. 12, about 100 yards in length, was
suspended between supports at an elevation of 38
feet, and insulated on porcelain inverts ; the bat-
tery power employed Mtiirhead's sulphate, 512
elements ; instruments, a suspension galvanometer
having 30.500 turns of wire, No. 40 on each coil.
The insulation of the wire as indicated by the
needle showed a leakage at 2 p.m. of 1 a degree; at
2.51 p.m. it had increased to 31. At 3 p.m. the
leakage or loss of electricity commenced to diminish,
and at 7 minutes to 4 p.m. the needle showed a
leakage of only 1 degree.—Yours, &e.,
July 18. OWEN ROWLAND.