The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-10-05
lecture was delivered last weel; M =. Brook ,s


boxes, instrnments,. ae., at Tie. c-e.en spci,
and the processes Of adjusting the four great
Instruments employed, preparatory to- the
event, the lecturer continued ,lr, =. "'i
The location chosen was 70 height of l73 feet
: ihb0Vef the Mississippi. River; the skies were
clear almost toitha horizon. Gall that was
wanted TO complete .nreliminarics was the use
Of star for thirty y minutes, to aid In the nd
day preceding the eclipse, the object was to
get every telescope focused on the sun. In
due time the bride, the Queen of Night, moved
to her appointed place and arrnyed herself in
gorgeous attire. Ali eyes were strained 10 the
utmost, and in three minutes tho eclipse OF
1869 was gone forever. t.
No painter could portray, no pen describe
cscope was from the Philadelphia High school,
to take photographs. Next In importance was
that wonderful modern instrument, the spec
troscope. The former was moved by clock,
the latter by O screw. "A flash Of light was
enough for picture. Now as to tho objects
to be seen. The observers were especially to
search for the new inter-3fcrcurial iplanet.
Rsag Its
ject was to scrutinize the corona, or bridal.
veil. Another, to examine the wonderful pro-
tuberances, or rosy famcs,. which shoot out
from the sun In all directions. The observd-
tions made were very accurate and successful.
After abiding to the use of the spectroscope,
In anaIyzing light nom various sources, Pro
fessor f. spoke of the processes OF obtaining
sun pictures, the calculation being to take one
every second. The spring which declared the
picture complete simultaneously closed an cleo
tric current, thereby recording the instant Of
qulred, the speaker observed that every OBJ
server hos his spersonal equation" which
meens the time consumed In comprehending a
fact, In other words the interval Of time that
observer makes up his mind that he sees It.
Tho corona was seen to consist Of O thin sheet
of f1ame-pure white light, reaching out about
the diameter Of the sun; on the top, brilliant
rays darting out Into space. The sudde1ness
with which 1t appeared is astonishing 1t burst
like blaze OF glory behind the moon. Rose
| colored flames appeared next, like prairie on
fire. One protuberance resembled the axs2ers
! urement, provcdte be no less than 76, ,009 miles
| In height-a mountain offlame, Its base 15s, 600
miles long. Attention was rivetted by the
creeping along the edge Of the SUMS disc. sup
posed to be q mighty sheet or fire.
What are these protuberances The. epe0-
troscope shows that one ray indicates hydro
show that the corona Is not what u was sus-
pected to be-refected light. On the contrary
It is certainly incandeseent gas, all aglot With
years, led us AN iastrnyi The so-caJled nebuie
OF the heavens, instead Of being distant groups
Of worlds, were ncandescent gas, as shown by
the spectrossope: A star !, once brilliant, bait
heated ball, but bnfnink gas. = We can nov see
| whit the SUMS veilia made Of We can ana
| lyze the sun. We haYe sixteen different lights,
| representing as many. metals, most Of which
would be identified. he was happy to say that
not the sllghest trace Of gold had been dlscov-
| cred. C4ensati0n.1 4 t7,.'F !. lg5.5jfs -
Tho physical phenomenon OF ths eclipse
formed the next topic. The thermometer: FELL
during It's continuance with extraordinary rap
idity. Had it contiaSsd 70 iail tSs1tS four
| hours at tho same raten Had thsre been. an,
i other Joshua to have heightened the sfpbffod.
fthe earth would have frozen two. feet deep.
Animals in the pasture prepared for slefp, and
fowls went TO r00st but soon came down look
Ing very much ashamed; they had been sold:
One Of the most surpriAng things was shower
Of meteors whioh various observers mistook
i for o flight Of thistle down.,
II Tho efiect on the mind, OF all the phenomena
II attending the eclipse; would never be eIaced.
It seemed as though dome terrible and awful
danger waseimpendlng. He was impressed
and dbewildered, Intoxicated by the excitement
y ofAn surrounding circumstances.
ity in the year IeQf there would be another total
teGiipee. ,9omo OF thoSe present would be san
living aThespe begged all Gfch I'd 60 and
see ~ . He %ad travelled through Europe; .btfi
excepting tho crater rnf, ,VEiuvfps, h6 had rather
lose all than, that E6nd hight ofs three, minutes
on Burlington, Heights. Z 2. iss.ts