The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1851-07-27


precise point occupied by tie eastern prot uber,nes
dsik sPot was visible when that PORTION of thu
suns suriace was broc rat int0 view soare DAVIS nf
towards BY his axal rotation These facts vii
az" " ene interest alta ;hng 3, the observations of
The corona and red flames ere tho most SON.
spicuous CELESTIAL phenomena during total cell pss
OF the sun, and at the samc tune the m,st imp,y-
ah az bearing upon the physical structure Of thai
| luminary. but there are others whivh we'll de-
serve attention at the hands Of sach observers as
| are provided with telescope, OF IN Iderate power.
| Amongst these may be instineed the visibility of
the contour OF the n, which is oil The sans disc
| prior or subsequent to the total phase asd evea
before the first contact Of the SUI and moon the
appearance Of flashes Of white c0;ored light over
the surface of our satellite the pse prog esses
the illumination of solar spots Dewr the niucu's
| edge peculiar color Of portions of ner iisc as
BLACK with bins girde, reddish purple gradually
csrkcning towards the Gentle, or d'sky gray bright
er wards tie sun greater or less iiu nip.tlon
Of the entire disc Of the and the visibility of
the spots upon her surface; the orniati of what
| ore termed Blileys beads" or bright drop,
which become visi bio when the uneclipsed portion II
| the sun il very narrow, l. e., immediately before
| the commencement, and after the end Of the total
eclipse, &c IL appears to DO highly desirable that
| the positions Of the solar Spots should be deter
mined with some degree OF accuracy, f,urtocu days
before and after the eclipse, aad Sii venture 70
suggest this class Of observation to amateur as
u0iGmers who are PROVIDED with sal "a bic means.
lfo.e portions Of the suns disc which present
fac'i, or streaks Of brighter character than tn,
greater part Of his surface should also be no iced
As already remarked, the d,inimution of light is
not usually very great until about quarter of an
hour before the commencement OF The total eclipse
The brighter planets then bec0iuo v,siols TO the
naked eye, ard when the sun Is who ly obscured,
stars OF the first and second magnitude cone into
view. la 1872, the greatest number Of stars per-
ceved without the telescope ten, ana fow per-
sors could distinguish more thao five six. Oar
Hg the approaching eclipse, Inc sun will be situate
ia Cancer the brig hiest stars in bs vicinity being
Castor, Pollux, Capelia, and kcguius; the planet
Venus wll be Is degrees dis ant from the sun to-
wards the west, Mercury about ID degrees east
vsid ard little south, Jupiter Gus, of the meridian
and five degrees below the equator, and Mars near
the western horison) 1t il recorded ny historians,
that during the total eclipse OF sathocles, ..
ZIG, the stars appeared in every direction and in
describing the famous eclipse Of Il &. 6l0, which
put al end to the war between the Kings of Medea
and Lydia, and is said TO have been predicted by
1bales, Herodotus says I" the day turaed nto
night" The heavens, as the totalIt, approaches,
ass,me dull, som bre aspect, the azure bus of
tho sky becomes livid purpsh, and, occa
sionally, broad bands of red or orange light
aIpear near the horizon Thu change in sSe
color Of the heavens is percep'ibls when the
eclipsed portion OF the sun amounts to eight
dgits, and was noticed as early ~ TIE year A d.,
$50. The figures of persons near the observer gra-
dualIy assume pale, cadavorous aspect. on
SEINE occasions become olivegi cen. AT Cremona,
in 1872. the whole landscape appeared though 1T
were illuminated by a Bengal light" aud III Ither
places objects put on first greeush ,ingo, winch
subsequently, changed to saffron, violet, purple
as the obscnrity grow deeper Ths unnatural ap-
yeararce Of human figures is u fact particularly
mentioned by those who witnessed the ast eoiiv se
in Europe, as tending TO excite the most paldful
Impressions one writer compares the effect to that
Ircnuccd by burning spirits Of vine. Nj. Arago
states that al Perpignan, III the south of Fraa,c,
nearly 70 COO persons turned to ooserve the total
eclipse Of July, 1872, notwithstanding tho oariy
hour Of the morning ut which toe phenom snon o,-
Cured AT Milan, Turin, Padua, ADD Other places
within the moons shadow, tho enthusiasm was
equally great. The streets Of Honolulu. in the
Sandwich Islands, were covered With pieces Of
smoked g!ass after the eclipse of August l..,0-a
TACT contrasting strkipgly with the alarm produced
| III Iaris by the nero announcement Of a tota'
eclpse in 1904, whom, US NJ. Arago states, number,
sought protection in caves. 1hesud ien silence that
prevailed among the multitudes collected IN tho
lopuIOus cities OF southern France and Italy, lS
the last ray Of the vanished. and the uniyer
| sal shout Of welcome with which his temperance
wat greeted, have been well descdbed by tho French
! philosopher The ELECTS Of a to:al eclipse upon
the animal creation are very curious, la lSI2
horses came to sudden stand STILL aud neither whip
goad would induce them to move Oxen in the
fields arrayed themselves in circle, back To back,
or with their hons edwards. ~ II to resist at-
| tacl. Dogs fed Tor refuge 10 their masters, howl
irg liteousy during the coutiuuacce OF the dark.
! rcss. A hen surrounded by hcr chickens hastily
! collected them undoi her wings Birds fell u BON
he ground apparently dead from fright, or pcrshci
by dashir them olives against walls aud obilnoeys.
] AT Neni,e swallows were readily taken in the
'ii'cts, fear having derived them OF ths power of
! dn.tkly retTested when the eclipse over Bees,
whtn had lsft their hives in gre mum crs at sun
! riso, returned until the dark ess ceased, ard
! svSiin OF ants was TO stop suddenly or their
march. Delicate plants, as the oonvo ivglus, Iuusi,
&c, cosod their leaves. In Short i,sin past cxpc.
ritrce, there can be doubt that tho pstursii %
| vi iLd much tn interest hiin in the approaching
ecllrc, as well as tho astronomer; aud " Is very
possible that even in This county where tho eclipse
| will be very large though not total s0iue of the
! above theuotIeDs may DO witnessed. The thermo
| meter 10 The shade Is not It's much affected,
though to the senses there j. u chit, dInp feeling
Z IN TIE ar At Perpignan during the last eclipse,
| thoio was "a heavy dew, ~hich fol in small drops
! from The tees.
CitGt preparations hayu been m ade for securing
proper observations toe 18th If escni moah
| lrglisb. French, and American asironomeis wdl
lo'sic thCinsevcs At various points in sweden and
I Noiway. The Russian government have equipped
rN staiiors, wsth three observers uS each aad the
| Piussian astror omers will arrange thcms,ivee at
different places near the shor,s Of the Baltic. IL
| the weather prove favorable we may expect cb,er-
vations along the whole course Uf the Moons Jhs-
dow, nom the western coast 1T Norway, Rhefe il
eht Europe, To the Sea of Aznv. rbo &C. suit can
hardy fail 10 improve our knowledge OF the ply 81
csi Constitution 9th sun, when the oOrona aad
| I'D hames appear ~ 10, connected
| temniT, sir, your most otcdicnt servant,
J. *. HiSD.
! Persia.
N = ~ a...