The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-04

ground walk. The white lilies in my mothers
Hover garden were observed by others among
,hc irst objects of the vegetation which could
| 1e distinguished from the windows of the
| mouse. Every living creature was soon reioic-
] lhG again in the blessed restoration of light
| aiter that frightful moment of a night at noon
day.
! Men who witness any extraordinary spectacle
! together are apt, in after times to find plea
! sure In conversing on its impressions. But do
! not remember to have heard single being
| freely communicative on the subject of his ndi-
| NiGual feelings at the most solemn moment of
| the eclipse. 1t would seem as if sensations were
| aroused too closely connected with the constitu
| ton of the spirit to be irreverently and fami-
| liarly discussed. / shall only say that | have
| passed varied and eventful life, that it has
| been my fortune to see earth, heaven, ocean,
! and man in most of their aspects; but never
have beheld any spectacle which so plainly
manifested the majesty of the Creator, or so
iorcihly taught the lesson of humanity to man,
as total eclipse of the SUM-
Eclipse Or1Si2.
Arago thus describes the total eclipse of the
| sun in the south of France in 1872
At Perptgnan only the sick remained indoors.
| From early dawn the people covered the ter
races, the city ramparts, all the knols and van
| tage points from which they could hope to see
| the sun rise. At the citadel we had under our
| eyes besides the numerous groups of citizens
| the soldiers who were about to be reviewed. The
| time for the beginning of the eclipse approached
| Nearly 10000 persons. smoked glass i'm hand
were scanning the radiant orb now projected
| upon an azure sky Hardly had we, aided by
powerful glasses, begun to distinguish the slight
| shade obscuring the western limb of the sun,
| when shout the mingled sound of 10000
different voices, apprisedu us that our observation
had preceded by some seconds only that made
| by 10000 improyised astronomers with the naked
eye, in this their first essay. lively curiosity,
the spirit of emulation. and a desire not to be
forestalled, seemed to endow their natural vision
with IN unaccustomed penetration and power
Between the commencement of the eclipse
and the time which closely preceded the total
disappearance of the sun, we remarked nothing
worthy of record in the countenances of the nu-
merous spectators. But when the sun, narrowed
to mere line, began to throw over the horizon
| but faint light, an anxiety spread through the
| whole crowd; each man felt impelled to COM
muncate his impressions to his neighbor. Then
began dull roar like that of distant sea after
II tempest. The noise became louder in pro-
| portion to the thinning of the slender solar
crescent. Finally the crescent vanished. Dark
| ness succeeded suddenly to the light, and an
| absolute silence marked this phase of the eclipse,
as sharply as did the pendulum of our astro-
nOmiCGl clock.
| The phenomenon. in its magnifcence had
| triumphed over the restessness of youth, over
| the frivolity which certain men take for Il sign
| OF superiority, and over the noisy Indifference
| of which the soldiers ordinarily make their
boast. A profound calm reigned, too, in the
| air; even the birds ceased their song. After a
| solemn waiting of about two minutes duration,
| transports of Joy, frantic applause sauted with
| the same accord, the same spontaneity, the re-
appearance Of the first solar rays. To the me-
| lancholy self-collectedneSs produced by indie
| fnable sentiments succeeded a lively satisfac-
| ton, the evidence of which no one dreamed of
suppressing or of moderating. For the ma iority
| OF the public the phenomenon had reached its
limit. The other phases of the eclipse had few
attentive observers, except those devoted to the
study of astronomy
Mr.. Bailly thus writes of the same eclipse
showing how even astronomers may lose their
presence of mind momentarily by the awful
brilliancy of the spectacle:-
Il had noted down, on paper, the time of my
chronometer, and was in the act of counting the
seconds in order to ascertain the time of inner
contact when | was astOunded by n tremendous
burst of applause from the streets below, and the
same moment was electrified at the sight of one
OF the most brilliant and splendid phenomena
that can well be imagined. For, at that instant
the dark body of the moon was suddenly sur
| rounded with corona, or kind of bright glory,
similar in shape and relative magnitude to that
which painters draw round the heads of saints.
and which by the French is designated an
GoreOie. Pavia contains many thousand inhabi-
tants, the majority part Of whom were at this
early hour walking about the streets
and squares, or looking out of windows
in order to witness the long-talked-of
phenomenon; and when the total obscuration
| took place. which was Instantaneous, there was
| an universal snOut from every observer which
made the welSin ring:' and for the moment
withdrew my attention from the object with
which was Immediately occupied The OBJ
servers of the eclipse of 1860 in Labrador saw
1.-THE dark shadow advance from the west with
frightful rapidity, and then pass over. 1t looked
like dark column or very dark cloud. The
tint of the sky during the totalty was of an in
tense blue. The dark moon appeared to hang
out in space between us and the sun. A gloomy
unearthly light fell upon all objects, impressing
one with the idea that some fearful calamity was
about to happen. The wind which had been
| blowing in gusts now sank, and a death-ike
stiffness prevailed A little solitary bird poured
forth a melancholy song, and then the stiffness
appeared even greater than before. Capella and
other stars were seem"
Eclipse of 1881.
For the grand effects of total eclipse on the
surrounding scenery, the following description
by Mr.. Hind of that which he observed on the
2Sth of July, 1851, may be taken as a sample.
lie says:-
'1he aspect of nature during the total eclipse
was grand beyond description. A diminution of
light over the earth was perceptible quarter of
an hour after the beginning of the eclipse, and
about ten minutes before the extinction of the
sun the gloom increased very perceptibly. The
distant hills looked dull and misty and the sea
assumed dus6y appearance, like that it pre-
sents during rain. The daylight that remained
had yelloWish tinge and the azure blue of the
sky deepened to IA purplish violet hue, particu-
larly towards the north. But Notwithstanding
these gradual changes, the observer could hardly
be prepared Tor the wonderful spectacle that pre-
sented itself when he withdrew his eve from
the telescope, after the totaity had come on to
gaze around him for few seconds. The South
ern heavens were then of uniform purple grey
color, the only indication of the suns position
being the luminous corona, the light of which
cOntrasted strilingly with that of the surround
mg sky. In the zenith and north of il the |
heavens were of purplish-violet, and appeared |
very near, while in the northwest and northeast |
broad bands of yellOwsh crimson light, intensely |
BRIGHT produced an effect which no person who |