The New York herald., 1874-10-25

OslO a. W. Eau
equnoctial and sosttia points and the oblquity Of
the eciptic. but also advanced theory of ecpses
substantially the same as that Of our own times.
There yet remain works in the Chinese tongue
which were written 200 years before CHRIST show
ing that the periodic times and revolutions OF the
lunar orb were known to them at periods far
anterior to that ancient date. The most skilfu
astronomer that ever China produced, who bore
the euphonlous cognomen OF Tcheou-cong, lived
more than 1000 years before the Christian era,
ana he spent whole nights in contemplating the
emotions Of the everlasting suns'' and the phe-
nomena oi populations and eclpses. 1t is proper
to state, however that the
GOLDEN AGE OF ASTRONOMY
soon passed away In that Celestial country, and
that one OF their subsequent emperors issued bar.
barous decree that all the books In the Empire
should be burned except such as related TO agri-
culture and medicine. The fundamental epoch OF
astronomical history among the Hindoos was
conjunction oil the sun and moon, which took
place IN the year 3102 B. @. Present calculations
confirm the statement that such conjunction ac-
tually then took place. At the present time the
people OF India calculate ecpses from date ex-
tending back into the misty era OF 5000 years
ago, the accuracy of which computations
motion) that OF the best Grecian astrono-
mers. The motions Of the "refulgent lamp OF
nightn have indeed been calculated from the
space through which she passes in upwards OF
100000 days. The cycle now known as the Me-
tOnian (ot nineteen years. duration), which comes
to us through the Greeks, also used by them Hip
parchus collected several accounts OF observations
OF lunar ecipses and the
WIDESPREAD AwR AND TERROR
with which they were wont to be regarded. Kings
and emperors saw in them the interposition OF a
superhuman power, the fall OF q dynasty or the
advent OF an impending national calamity. Pro-
found as was the terror inspired in the breast OF
the noble savage who in the fall Of a cataract
the leap OF SPIRIT and in the peal OF the echoing
thunder "the hammer clang OF an eXas-
perated god,n their CONSERVATION and alarm
were tenfold increased at the prospect OF
being forever deprived OF nocturnal light by the
observation OF the moon and Of heat and light by
the concealment OF the sun. Even in the blazing
days OF later civilization the dread which those
eclipses created hnds fitting expression in the
lines OF Milton wherein he speaks OF the sun, which
In dim eclipse disastrous twilight sheds
On half the nauons. and with tear OF change,
Perplexes monarchs,
from which 1t is apparent that even the power
full ones OF the earth were not exempt from the
fears and apprehensions OF their untutored
subjects. The only persons who seemed In
some degree free from such apprehenslons were
those who devoted themselves to the pur-
suit OF astronomical knowledge. Men like
Pythagoras, Archemldes and Htpparchus, whose
notions OF the immortal gods were not so well de-
fined, recognized In the numberless celestial phe-
nomena the operations OF a lew general laws, ac-
cording to which the heavenly bodies went their
own eccentric ways without the special interposi-
ton OF one of the gods. Hpparchus, who four
ished 140 years before the birth OF Christ, being
the only astronomer who applied himself to the
study OF every branch OF the sciences, noticed
that the moon moved slower in her apogee (when
she is furthest from the earth) tnan when in her
perigee when she is nearest to the EARTH, an OBJ
servatlon which has received ample confirmation
by the discovery OF the universal laws of attrac-
ton and centrifugal force. Besides collecting all
the accounts OF eclipses previously given BY
THE EGYPTIANS AND CHALDEANs,
he calculated all that yet take place during
space or six hundred years. These accounts and
tables passed into the hands of Ptolemy OF Egypt,
and were by him preserved in his Almagest.
PtOlemy, availing himself Of the abundant ma
terials thus placed at his disposal became one OF
the most devoted astronomers and made observa-
tions OF the moon incessantly from his observatory
in Alexandria. His work on the subject was for
tunately preserved from the great burning OF the
Alexandrian Library by the Saracens. and was
translated into Arabic A. d. s27, and subsequently
into Latin and Greek. The phenomena OF the hori-
zoutal moon were first discussed by Alhazen, who
thence showed the Importance OF the
THEORY OF RgFRACTIONs
in astronomy Then came the still more import
ant suggestion hrst advanced by the Nuremberg
astronomer John Werner, that longitude could be
readily determined by observing the moons dis
tance rom the fixed stars. simple analogy will
illustrate his plan. When q boat on o dark nigh t
floats upon the waters OF the Hudson, the occu-
pants thereof can readily tell whether they are
drifting to the right or to the lett and also how
much they have drifted, by observing the apparent
motions OF q steeple along the stars Substitute
the moon for the steepe and the analogy is COM
pete. The moon being millions or times nearer to
US than the fixed stars, will appear to two per-
sons standing on the opposite sides OF the earth
to be at different distances from given star
HAzY SKY.
The evening was extremely hazv and up TO
nine O'Clock the prospects OF being able to catch
the taintest glimpse Of the phenomenon were
very slim indeed. After nine O'Clock,
however. the haze began to scatter
into gray patches ana nazy clouds
ringed with pale light. AS The night on. the
sky cleared and the muddy faint globe could be
discerned through the vapory atmosphere.
When the moon entered the penumbra,
towards eleven O'Clock, the effects were not
visible to the naked eye after her entrance into
the perfect shadow, the clouds rolled out from a
centre as II IN obedience TO the phenomenon and
unfolded the orb 20 view. There was then inst q
small patch obscured as in figure 1.