The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-10-11

The Total Eclipse Of the Sun-Intcressing
English Report.
To THg EDITOR or THE LONDON TIMEs:-
received this morning from Lieutenant John Her
sche r. E., letter from Belgaum, dated the 9s' =,
August, containing an account Oh ms obser - ~
the total eclipse OF the 18th OF An-, svsuoh' -
70 Lieutenant Hersc,,,. were entrps.ed the nstr,.
struma ssnt Guy 9s the soya ssiey Hhe chief in
mounted equatorially aDe, furnished with 4 clock
motion for keeping the telescope or the sun TO the
eye end Of the aeeso is attached spectroscope
by which the light the object Ia which the telescope
Is directed can re Analysed There Is also smaller
telescope iurr ,ished with apparatus for detecting
poiarzed light. During. the few months since his
return 70 India Lieutenant Herschel has successfully
applied the larger telescope 10 an examination OF the
spe;tra OF some OF the southern nebul8. His obser
voii0ns agree with those which had been made OF
the nebulB visible in this country. Lieutenant
Hersche IL preparing fun report OF his 0bserva-
tons OF the eclipse for communication to the Royal
Society.
send an extract from his letter which would be
read doubtless with great interest by The scientific
public. WILLIAM HIGGINS, +. X. ).
UPPER TULsE HILL, 3. w., Sept &c. 1885,
[EXTRACr.]
The week preceding the event had quite prepared
me for disappointment. There seems to be an annual
cloudy and rainy season at Jamkand, which lasts
about fortnight and was said to be somewhat later
and more marked than usual this year. The morning
broke, however, usual, clear, but the driving mon
soon clouds showed the kind or sky we were to
expect. About quarter OF a minute before totaty
o thick cloud obscured the sun. l had placed the
slit of the specr0scOpe 30 as TO cross the crescent
at about the vanishing point OF the limb and was
watching the narrow solar spectrum grow rapidly
narrower. You may conceive the state OF nervous
tension at this moment. Whatever the corona
was competent to show must in few seconds
have been reveaed-nnless, indeed, IL should so
happen that prominence should be situated at that
precise spot, In which case the double spectrum
would be presented. But the solar spectrum faded
cloud was the cause. | went to the finder, re-
moved the dark glass, and waited in that fever of
philosophical impatience which recognizes the futl
ity Of irritation even while 1t chafes under the
knowledge Of neeting seconds, how long 1 cannot
Say-perhaps half minute. / can well recall the
kind OF frenzied temptation to turn screws ana
look somewhere ese checked by the calm ticking
OF the clock telling OF tirm hold Of the right
place, cloud or no cloud Soon the cloud hurried
revealing first the upper limb, with Its radiating
and, as fancied scntillatng corona. and then the
lower limb. Instantly marked prominence near
the needlepOint In the finder. rapid turn OF the
tangent screw covered 1t with the point OF the
needle. Those few seconds Of unwilling were prac-
tcaly all that saw OF the eclipse as o spectator.
With the exception Of hurried glance into the finder
at later period to watch for another break, was
the whole time engaged at the spectroscope. have
not the remOtest idea from actual experience Of the
external phenomena which were present to the
thousands OF upturned faces whose voices heard
outside. might easily have lifted the curtain and
looked out while the clouds were obstructing. That
did not do so only to be explained by the absence
OF mind, as regarded all else, produced by the
concentration OF attention on the problem before
me. To return. The instant the prominence was
under the needepOint returned to the. spectre
scope single glance solved the problem In great
measure. Three vivid lines-red, orange, blue No
others; no trace OF a continuous spectrum. think /
was little excited about this time. for shouted
quite unnecessarily to my recorder, "Red, green
yellow" quite conscious Of the fact that meant
orange and blue. ] lost no time in applying myself
to measurement. And here hesitate / have
no idea how those five minutes passed SO quick
~. Clouds were evidently passing continually,
ally The red must have been less vivid than
the orange, for after short attempt to measure
IL passed on to secure the orange, and cceedng
my satisfaction, tried for the blue line Here ]
was less successful. The glimpses OF light
rarer and feebler, the line itself growing shorter and
cross very near the true position and got reading
Just as the reilluminaton Of the field OF view in
formed me that the sun had reappeared the other
limb. consider there can be no question that the
orange line was identical with d (sOdium far, at
least, the instrument Ia competent to establish an
identity also consider that the identity OF the blue
line with (hydrogen) is not established; on the
contrary, believe that the former is less reracted
than f. but not much. With respect to the red
line hesitate much in assigning an approximate
place. 1t might have been near (hydrogen |
doubt its being far as b. but there would be its
limits. The corona may have projected spectrum
oil some Kind, but saw none. therefore concluded
1t was faint solar spectrum conclusion In accord
with other characteristics of the phenomenon,
but especially with the (fickerng y radang appear
ance, and with the satisfactory determination by
Lieutenant w. NJ Campbell, r. e. of the conditions OF
Is sufficient to state that these observations leave
DOUBT that the light Of the corona il pOlarized In
places passing through the SUMS centre. have had
no communication with any other observers since
the event. am curious to learn how far results
will cOrr0bOrate each other.