The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-08-17

nature like the funereal pail thrown over q dead
body, and whose subsequent withdra wal in an
instant operated like resurrection all this
produced on the mind mixture of profound
and indefnable impressions which il will be
pleasing to hold long in remembrance.n EIH
Since the total eclipse of 1912 there have ally
occurred two which have attracted special
notice among European astronomers. One is
the eclipse of July Is, 1851, which was visible in
Sweden; the other is the eclipse ofJuy 1s, 1860,
which was visible in Spain, and led to the inte-
resting "Himalaya expedition
The totality lasted nearly twice as long in the
eclipse of 1851 as in that of 1912. The Astronomer
Roy al, who had witnessed the earlier eclipse
was one of distinguished company which left
! En- gland for Sweden to observe the eclipse of
1851. II have no means of ascertaining," he
! writes "whether the darkness really was
| greater in the elipse OF 1912. am inclined to
think that in the wonderful, and | may say
| appalling, obscurity. I saw the grey granite
| hills, within sight OF Hvalas more distinctly
than the darker country surrounding the
| Superga.
"But whether because, in 1851, the sky was
much less clouded than in 1S42 $50 that the
| transition was from a more luminous state OF
| sky to a darkness nearly equal in both cases,)
| or from whatever cause, the suddenness of the
darkness in 1851 appeared to be much more
| striking than in 1872 My friends who were on
| the upper rock, to which the path was very
| good, had great difficulty in descending A
| candle had been lighted in lantern about
| quarter of an hour before the totality; and NJ.
Hasse'gren was unable to read the minutes OF
| the chronometers face without having the lau-
| tern held close to the chronometer."
During this eclipse the red prominences were
seen with remarkable distinctness. Airy at
| Gottenburr, Hind aud Dawes at Roevelsburg,
| Lassell at the Trollhatten Falls, and other OBJ
servers took drawings of these remarkable APP
| pearances; and the agreement between the
| drawings is such as to leave no doubt of the
| care with which these observers examined and
| recorded what they saw. Round one part OF the
| black limb Of the moon there was seen SER
| rated band of rose-pnk light, in another place
| q pyramidal red mount ain, in third o curved
| streak OF red light formed like Turkish seine
tar, and IN fourth O. red detached cloud,
| which Airy and Lassell picture as
nearly circular in form, while Hind and Dawes
| represent ii as triangular. No doubt could exist
| that these objects belonged TO the sun and not
to the moon, since the moon was seen to ira
verse them, insomuch that on the side towards
| which she was moving their altitude diminished,
| while on the opposite side they grew larger
| until the appearance of the suns disc in this
| neigh borbood obliterated them through excess
| of light.
The observers were especially struck by the
| perfect distinctuess with which these remark
| able appearances were exhibited. 81 had heard
| them described as but faint phenomena" says
! Lassell. MY surprise and astonishment may
therefore be well imagined when the view pre-
| sented itself to my eyes which am about to
| describe. In the middle of the Celescopic)
field was the body of the moon, rendered
visible enough by the light of the corona
These promnenc@es @ SpP'f we're of G3''T1S the most
| brilliant lake color-a splendid pink quite
| defined and hard. They appeared to me to be
not quiescent; but the moon passing over them,
and therefore exhibiting them in different
phase, might convey an idea of motion. They
! were evidently to my senses belonging to the
sun, and not at all to the moon: for pecaly
on the western side of the sun, observed that
the moon passed over them, revealing success
| sve portions of them as it advanced. In con-
| tormty with this observation also, observed
only the summit of one Oh the eastern side,
though my friends, observing in adjoining
rooms, had seen at least two; the time occupied
! by me in observing with the naked eye not
| having allowed me to repair again to the tele-
| scope until the moon had covered one and
| burst of light from the emergent sun was ex
| actly in the place of the CHIEF western flame
which il instantly eXtinguished.n