The Cairo evening bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1868-1870, 1869-08-07
Hot day yesterday. and to. day.


The Eelipse To-AaysThe Pseuomena, 60.
The great celestial exhibition of which
30 much has been said and written will
commence this afternoon at about II
minutes past O'Clock. At that time the
eastern edge Of the moon will pass In
front Of the western limb Of the sun. At
about thirteen minutes past five, the mo-
ment Of the greatest observation, only
about one fortieth part of the sun will be
visible-a mere circlet on the upper or
northern edge. The duration of the
eclipse will be about two hours and a
quarter.
Eclipses demonstrate that the present
theory Of the universe Is the correct one
furnishing convincing evidence that
the millions Of twinkling bodies that dot
the heavens are solid, Opaque masses of
matter like that upon which we live;
and proof that cannot be gainsayed that
the sun and moon are of that charac-
ter Of matter, and of the size and at the
distance from the earth calculated by
our modern Astronomers
In the earlier days OF the world eclipses
o! the sun were made to serve the pur-
poses OF the wise; and, 1t IL said, that
even Columbus made use OF u coming
eclipse to terrlfy the savages OF the West
Indies who sought his lie and the lives
Of hts crew
The causes of eclipses are thus set
forth:
Though stars, planets, and satellites
m nnHauun .glin.n nanAruIlV known
these cases as occultation, the principal
ones, and those which are most valuable
to science, are Of the sun and moon.
Partial solar eclipses sometimes occur
from the transit Of the lower planets
across the face OF the sun, but "a solar
eclipse proper Is the I,assage OF the moon
between the sun and earth. And IL j.
here 10 be observed that solar eclipse
can never happen except at the time Of
new moon, or when the sun and moon
are In conjunction. In a partial eclipse,
one side Of the sun be- o mes gradually
indented, and tho bright orb continues
waning for a time, and then gradually
throws Oft the terrible incubus of dark.
ness, which seemed to threaten his lu-
minuus face. In a total eclipse, the in.
dentation swells, until IL ha- expunged
the sun into hideous black blot. In. an
annular eclipse, the whole orb Is plunged
into darkness except an intensely bright
annulus, or ring. In a certain sense, an
eclipse Of the sun may be regarded rs an
eclipse Of the earth, caused by the moons
shadow, BY process similar In Kind to
that which determines the length OF the
earth's shadow, IL l. known that the
greatest possible length Of the shadow OF
the moon Is 81 70 times the earth's semi.
diameter, and that the least distance OF
the earth from the moon 10 55.95 semi.
diameters.
No one can fail to see, then, that II at
the conjunction Of the sun and moon, the
length OF the shadow, and the distance
or the moon from the earth are Identical
with the above mentioned numerical!
values, the moons shadow viii extend
beyond the earth. Should the earth be
In position At this juncture, that the
shadow would fall on II, there would be
. total eclipse OF the sun, Mt all places
within, or over which tire SHADOW ni"~es'
should the heavens be overcast with
clouds the only effect Of the eclipse VIII
be an increased am cunt Of darkness, and
an unusual degree ofchilliness In the at
mosphere. In the event that the ssyis
cloudiess there will be strange and beau
tlful phenomena presented In the coiors
and shadows OF the sky and earth, the
,estiveness Of the brute creation &c.
Astronomers, gathered at points OF to-
tallty. will be on the anxious lookout for
new worlds between the sun and mercury
It having long been contended by some
that several lesser planets have existence
there. The intense light OF the sun has
prevented due exploration, since the
question has been raised. As the eclipse
will shut of that light, there VIII %
ample opportunity for thorough search
An examination will also be made into
the competition Of the sun and Its light
To facilitate this Investigation photo
graphs will be taken At various stages
And the suns rays viii b repeatedly sub
iectsd TO chemical analysis and scrutiny