New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-08-14


REPORT OF THE ASTRONOMICAL ExFRDffroS TO
LABRADOR,
newport, August s-sepemb Dag-Tbe BIB
having arrived Tuesday evening with the astron-
omica ILabrador) party, great interest was mani
tested a. the opening Of the session this morning.
The Association having divided into sections, the
chairman Of the mathematical section called upon
Prof. Alexander, Chief Of the expedition. Amidst
profound siience, the learned professor rendered
his reportWth some emotion, and said in substance
az follows:
Never in rny Widest dreams have I seen such
scenes Of grandeur as we saw when nearing our
destination For the last fifty miles, an nnbgoken
chain OF mountains, seemingly formed Of cast roR
rose beyond the limits Of arborescent vegetation
patches of SNOW still lingering their eastern side.
from which there came down TO rs sensible chill.
But what discouraged me more than al was at the
base of that longe barrier. Though the day was
clear overhead, along that barrier slept bed of
mist held there under the inexorabIe law Of con-
| densation by the mountains themselves And when
We arrived At latitude, and were trying TO find
some little opening through which We could enter,
we looked upon these towering masses A001 feet
nigh how re were to get on the plateau was not
| manifest at ell.
/ epenetrated little inlet and found, after
WhHe a SET Of terraces upon whish we finally
placed ourselves, and then the huge mountain bar
rier shut out the fog under the SANE ssofgse-
times the fog crept through lis huge SER
| pent, but it came down on the warn SIDE ~ the
mountain range, and scarcely eve reached US
| Our harbor was good and snug, aud we set our
| selves to work to prepare for observations When
the weather in this region was cieat, " was very
| clear but it never remained so more than tive
| DAYS at time and with increasing anxiety We
| looked forward to the great day. Ii seemed TO
| promise that it would be very clear, but at the
| very critical moment Of all, nine-tenths of the
| heavens were overcast. No sooner does the m0en
| intrude upon the edge Of the sun, than her edge
commonly appears very rough; when the eclipse
| is almost annniaf or total, she s enormously
rough, whatever else may happen. We had al
ready arranged ourselves and distributed our la
| bors. Before we got there, We called formal
council we discussed every method we ascer-
| tanned who should take this and who should take
| that. We were ranged together-your humble
servant in the center-so as TO communicate easily
with all, the photographer at my side. The sec
onds were called by individual, and the pasa-
| ing minutes by another; SO that, if one failed.
another could take it up, and we should not poSsf
| bly, get the wrong minute So we waited until the
critical time Nobody spoke until every thing had
| been observed. When was perfectly sure Of The
minute of contact, called for it; then the paot9-
| grapher let fly the springs of his instrument ard
| caught the little curve, and showed the ragged
| edge of the moon faithful to the effect, when q
| bordering light passes by it.
| Another phenomenon, il belt ef light which
appears outside Of the moon on the sun, showing
that the rest of the sun is certainly brighter along
| by tile edge of the moon We studied that time
| and again, with different c0iored gasses, some
| colors showing it strongly than ottlsts, AID
4 az usual the faithful photographer caught IL AID
| another curious phenomenon Was seen by Only 0At
1
| the edge of the sun somehow citts~ atetg that
4 edge projected on the sun was q bInisl light Ine
eve saw il, satisfied it was there, rePprfed il
/ specially, and then we opened the photographic,
/ plate and then that phenomenon, supposed to be
/ an optical Illusion in ls20, and to be something
1 strange id ls3S--the photograph remembered it
1 and putt down, and said, - Il not seen iust he7
cause yoa have imperfect eyes, but there j. some
\ thing there LApplartse.] These three drawings
/ are justification to the Superintendent q the
| Coast Survey in all time for sending that photo
1 Jk IA IL f..v lAugl
| them as intensely. valuable. AN chs eclipse ad-
vanced nothing could be more beautiful, just be-
4 cause the clouds were there, and we did not need
screen glass, most Of vs. and through that ilttle
could be looked at by the bare eyei and ~ IL mar
\ rowed and narrowed it became bit Of ragged
silver wire-a the edges OF it ragged as the edges
of the sharp cusps are ragged when the mnot7 mas
Just passed the node, and intensely saggestive OF
that.
4 Those who looked without the dark glass saw
the ragged edge, and It seemed 70 them tiiat the
4 glorious luminary was sinking away until ii was
lost it looked like intensely brilliant ineaI-
descent metal exposed 70 intense heat, aud drop
| ping away until it was gone Then, oh what
4 would we have given for no clouds. But theu was
the most cloudy season OF ALL nine tenths Of he
/ sky was covered with clouds. Just before that
gloomy twilight came, one of the party, one Of the
officers Of the ship, whose part II the division Of
the labor it was to waehf he could see the shadow
4 come and see it 60, looked around on the savage
mountains. And on came the black shadow, like
| some fearful cloud. He saw it approach. Three
| minutes passed and he saw il fly. The notice of
| this passage is not new. II has been in noun
| famous regions before it among the interesting
| things looked for. When the shadow came over
US, oh. what beautiful display ofcoloFs we had
| We could not see the corona, and 1t was permitted
| to as to look aside and see the grand spectacle.
| My friend and companion, pr. Barnard, was care.
full to look over the beautiful darkness shall not
| interrupt the account which ! hope he will give
you. Just as the eclipse was fairly total Just as
| the last little fragment was cut away Lieut.. she
| caught view of the long, white blade of light.
| quvering through where the sun had gone out.
and he caught the first blush of that corona which
we would have given much, very much, to have
| seen throughout.
| But we did not lose the corona quite, for ar
| ranged, through the assistance of Mr. Venable,
| some things to be looked after BY the seatnen
| themselves. They were instructed what to look
for, and received from an intelligent Quartermas-
| ter, whom closely cross. questioned aftefward,
| such distinct account of how he and the sail
| ors saw the corona along the black moon, and how
it looked, and how it trembled, and the rays pro-
eeted here and there; the description was as If
the man had seen, somehow, some astronomical
book, and jotted dowa the details for the deserip-
ton was so natural and so precise, hogan TO have
great hope that we had it, and that sheet OF blue
paper (pointing to a diagram on the wall) which
had brought with me from PfincetGn, took out,
and took the white material, and made it look as
near as could TO what he told me. = No, it is not
right there, he said g There is another beam. y
"oh. this is all right here, but here-7f rather
and said. Take tito your associate and see what
they say" and he took it and came baek and said,
"They say that it is exactly what they saw. APP
plause.l That is exactly the corona, just that ray
that shoots out here and there he has got it little
narrower side just where he ought 70 have
itnarroWed, for we were little south of the n
ter. say it is "a reliable drawing. Loud cheer
ine.j These, gentlemen, are among the more in
teresting phenomena that we saw. Sometimes
think any two of them put together ought TO just
ify all the preparation, and ali the Inconvenience,
and all the trial Of mind and ali the care, and all
the distribution of labor which we had. as
President Barnard of the University of MISSISSIPPI
nj wished to call the attention of the Association
to that curious breaking up of the last line Of light
| between the limb of the sun and moon, between
the moment Just preceding and following the total
immersion. This breaking up was first discovered
by Francis Bailly in 1887, which had given TO it the
name of Raillys beads. This was observed by
them. Although the little fragments Of hght did
not appear to them to present exactly thar rotund
form which would justify them in calling them
beads, they were so striking that although the
chief of our corps had recommended 1mplete 81
lence, and attention only TO the man whe w@s
counting the seconds, yet Mt this moment the chef
of the corps was SO completely carried away that
he exclaimed :. Baiiy's beadsi"
1 Prof. AleNander-The Doctor is entirely right
| as to the exclamation but it was not made By the