The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-08-07
THE ECLIPSE.
Tho EcIipses OF Former Times.

tory, called Chow-King, tho age of which Is
not known. Cyclic characters accompany
the account, from which calculations have
been made. Mr.. R. W. Rothman, in an in
teresting paper read before the Royal As.
Economical Society In 1887, fixes the date as
October 10, 2l2s B. c.
Mr.. Airy, the Astronomer Royal, has
made very careful calculations Of many Of
the ancient eclipses and fixed upon thcii
dates. He assigns 5s4 B. c. for the one
mentioned by Herodotus, which was the
means of bringing to an end tho war be.
tween the Modes and Lydia.s. This eclipse
was predicted by Tbuics, who probably made
use Of tn. ancient Chaldean cycle of lSaros,
winch IL eighteen years and ten days In
length.
This period Is made up OF two hundred
and twenty-threc lunatlons, and Is also equal
to nineteen synodlcal revolutions Of the
moons node, and by this coincidence 1t hap
pens that all eclipses arc repeated within
this interval.
The eclipse mentioned in Xenophou's
Anabasis as enabling the Persians to CAP
turo the town Of Larissa occurred, probably,
in $50 B. c.
An eclipse in i30 B. c., occasioned such
alarm that the Athenians were on the point
OF abandoning the expedition about to sail
against the Lacedamonians, but by the
quick wit of Perieles they were treasured
and induced to proceed.
The date Of Agathocles-as the eclipse il
called which happened when Agathocles was
bloekaded by the Carthagenians in Syracuse
Mr.. Airy places on August IA, 800 B. c.
The superstitious dread of eclipses lasted,
as Is well known, through the middle
ages, and it is not strange that tho sudden
ertlngulshment Of the sun in mld-alr, &C.
companicd by all those unusual appearances
which MI the coolest OF modern astrono-
mers with awe, should have terrified a rude
people.
From the Sixteenth TO the beginning of the
Nineteenth century there wero noticed bat
nine total cciipses Of he sun. During the
Eighteenth century Paris has witnessed but
onc-that OF 1924. London has not seen
one since 1715.
Since 1901 seven total ecl.pses have been
observed, besides that OF 1867, namely, In
1890, 1S43, 1850, 1851, 1856, 1850 and 1861
For the grand effects of II total eclipse on
the surrounding scenery, the following de-
s-l.ru.' by Mr.. Hind, of that which he OBJ
scrvg' A the 2Sth Of July, 1851, may be
taken as a sample. lie says:
"The aspect of nature during tho total
eclipse was grand beyond description. A
dlmlnutlon of light over the earth was per-
a nj hnur nj far hn bo-
ginning Of the eclipse, and about ten min
utes before the extinction of the sun the
gloom Increased very perceptbly. The dis
tant hills looked dull and misty, and the
sea assumed dusky appearance, like that
II presents during rain. The daylight that
remained had q yellowlsh tlnge, and tho
azure blue of the sky deepened to q purpllsh
violet hu", particularly toward the north.
But new thstandlng these gradual changes.
the observer could hardly be prepared tor the
wonderful spectacle that presented itself
when he withdrew his eye from the teles-
cope, after the totality had come on, to gaze
around him for u few seconds. The south.
ern heavens were then of uniform purple
gray color, the only indication of the SUM-
position being the luminous corona, the light
Of which contrasted strklngly with that OF
the surrounding sky. In the zenith and
north OF 1t the heavens were Of q purplish
violet, an1appeared very near, while In the
northwest and northeast broad bands OF yell
lowish crimson light, intensely bright, pro-
'u"rl v elect which no person who wit
-. IN ever forget. The crimson APP
penr,u IN over large portions Of the sky
In IAus. lrectlOns, irrespective of the clouds.
At higher attitudes the predominant color
was purple. All nature seemed to be over
Swallowed by an unnatural gloom the dis
tant hills were hardly visible; the sea turned
lurid red, and persons standing near the OBJ
l. Il. It'll i i -I-...I
produce tlj most painful sensations. The
darku,ss, Z 1t can be so termed, had no re-
somblance to that OF night. At various
places within the shadow, the planets, Venus,
Mercury, aud Mars, and the brighter stars
of the first magnitude, were plainly seen dur
Ing the total eclipse. Animals were fire.
Vucntly much affected. Cocks crowed at
ilelsingborg, though the sun was only hid
den there 80 seconds, and the birds sought
their resting places as If night had come on"
WHEN AND WHERE THE ECLIPSE IS To DE
SEEN.
Tho eclipse to-day will be visible through
out the whole extent of North America as q
partial eclipse, although but narrow belt
OF about 40 miles in width, extending from
Behring's straits to North Carolina, will be
within tho limit of the totM observation OF
the sun. The partial shadow of the moon
first touches the Garth in longitude west OF
Washington 1888 degrees and north latitude
81 dcgrees-just of the east coast of Japan
and tho eclipse first becomes total In lon
gitude lG5 degrees west from Washington
In north latitude SO degrees, in Siberia, at
sunrise. The shadow then moves forward,
advancing al the rate Of about 10 miles per
minute, until the sun sets to that portion of
the globe n short distance east of the coast
of North Carolina. The central line OF the
eclipse passes from the point at which 1t
first becomes visible through Siberia, cross
ing Behring's straits, and entering this con.
tinent, passing through Alaska, British
America, Montana, Dacota, Nebraska, Iowa
Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ten
nossee, Virginia, North Carolina and por-
ton of the Atlantic ocean.
Observations will be made at many points
along the central line of the eclipse, com
mcncing with the United States Naval OBJ
soryatory expedition of Professor Hall al
Alaska, and ending with the Coast Survey
expedition OH the coast of North Carolina
Observations of scientific character viii
be made at most of the following places
within the line of total observation! Iowa
Sioux City, Booncsboro, Des Moincs, Coda
Rapids, Iowa City, Muscatine, Burlington
Kcokuk; Illnois-Rock Island, Peoria
Bloomington, Quincy, Springfield, Alton
Indiana-Tcrra IIautc, Vlncennes, Colum
bus, Madison, EyNusylIlei Kentucky-Lou'
lsyillo, Shelbyville, Frankfort, Lexington,
Bardstown, Somerset, Danyillc, Abington
Tennessee -Greenyillc, Knoxville.
The duration of totallty at these points
varies according TO their distance from the
central line from seven seconds at Alton to
two minutes nine seconds at Des Moines,
aud the eclipse lasts about two hours at any
point At Washington the eclipse will be-
gin at Oh en-, @3s., and last an hour and
MY minutes, nearly nineteen-twentleths
OF the suns disk being obscured at its
middle.
now 1T Is BEST TO w. ZEN.
Aquiet, elevated position, free from Sun oke,
al ba nd M, 1.