The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1869-08-09

c1lated Ter the 9Th Of August, trans
pred last Saturday. & the exact time
predicted By astronomers. To the
cc4teL )l2tiye mind, the inefable wis
dom Ct God is no mtre apparent in
the sublime wonders of the heavens
than in the inscrutable operations OF
The human intellect. which, embodied
II frail and perishable physical or
rauization. is endowed with powers
eanabIe of solving the complex and
difficult problems connected with the
pbsnomena of the upper Deep" IF
oaval in.ens were ne ed to demon
.irais the i 4ortali of the soul,
his. r1u Of tbs md would fur
ni4h cne ,rfbeient FIR the purpose.
We're humaa reason Competent only
fcEooa The means of supplying
~ yapts and desires, the Msteri-
cl with sons show Of plaus-
nib argue that the soul is perish
aba Ike matter. But whea
a9 sec scientific men ana
lying the ultimate organization of
material substances; tracing the in
tricate processes of thought in the
brain descending into the bowels Of
the earth and recording the successive
geologic epochs and describing the
forms Of life which existed ages ago,
but are now extinct; sending the
electro magnetic fluid under oceans
and over continents with the speed Of
thought to the uttermost parts of
the earth;" and soaring on the wings
of science and art into the illimitable
realms Of space, demonstrating ex-
actly the time of an eclipse and the
places where visible. or the appear
ance Of a comet or metesric shower,
decades before these events are to oc-
cur every candid person must admit
that the human intellect is
an emanation Of Divinity. and that
1.-The soul, immortal as its Sire,
Snail never de-"
This. with the certainty that an
alI,wise, Supreme Being created and
regulates all things, constitutes the
lesson we learn from the Eclipse.
And now let us depict this inspiring
event in plain language. for the inform
alton Of scientific men and the salts
faction of persons who did not wit
ness the phase of total observation.
Evansville is situated in latitude
$50, s., North; lonaitude 81, 20,
West from Greenwich. The time
stated for the beginning Of the eclipse
here was 4 hours, IL minutes. after
noon; ending Of the eclipse 6 hours,
10 minutes; total duration l hour. 81
minutes; commencement of total
phase hours, II minutes. 2 seconds
duration 2 minutes. Allowing for
variations in time pieces, refraction Of
light, and the difficulty of ascertain
ing these respective phases without
the aid of elaborate instruments, the
actual time cOrresponded remarkably
with the pre-calculated time.
The sky was cloudless, except that
a few specks of vapor showed family
in the sky. The air was clear and
transparent, and cool in the shade
The sun, previous to the eclipse, shone
with considerable warmth, but slight
breeze and the moisture of late rain
modified its heat, which is usually
intense at this season. The writer
observed the eclipse from a porch
facing the West. When the eclipse
began, the heat therein was such as to
cause a person dressed in linen to
perspire. AS the observation in
creased, the air became cooler
by degraes until, at the Pc
riod of totality, chill was felt, and
linen became uncomfortable. The
change o. temperature occurred as sud
denly and was as extreme as when q
violent storm of wind and rain comes
in hot day. The writer was not sup.
piled with a thermometer, but where
he was. exposed to the full force Of the
Sun, the decrease Of temperature wa;
| fully twenty degrees. After the eclipse
i passed off there was chill in the all
unusual in August, and the ensuing
night and next day we're also remark
ably cool.
The transitions of light and shade
and variations of color, were extraor
binary and astonishing. As tbs
phase of obscurity approached, tn'
sky changed in color from a ligh
blue to dark blue, then to leader
color. The hues varied, being darke
toward the zenith and lighter towarC
| the horizon and nearer the Sun. A
the period of totally, when the eartl
around us was obscured in shadow
the horizon from the south to thu
north around by the west was Lighted
by the Suns rays shining from behin'
the moon, as the horizon on a clea
morning and evening is illuminate'
before the rising and after the settini
the Sun. The solar light faded gradu
ally as the moon crossed the suns disc
until the latter disappeared, when il
an instant the light vanished as sud
denly as when dark cloud hides tn,
face of the Sun. The darkness re
sembled that which prevails of nigh
when the moon is about in its quartz
phase, but at first seemed deeper o.
account of the sudden change. TIL
light flashed instantaneously on th
landscape when the suns face re
annearad at its northwestern edge. an.