The New York herald., 1874-10-26
u N A.
Street Scenes During the
Total Eclipse.
THE HERALD'S PREDICTIONS FULFILLED.
Letter from Professor
H. M. Parkhurst.
WHAT A SCIENTIFIC MAN SAW
The Herald Complimented by Scientific
Observers.
WHAT A SCIENTIFIC MAN SAW
WHAT THE MAN In THE MOON SAYS.

ings the silks and satns OF ladies' rustled against
the calicoes OF servant grls but for the time caste
was forgotten; all were buslly intent on one OBJ
tect-tne great eclipse. For some prominent
places large sums were paid by those who doubted
that the sidewalk wo1ld AFFORD them as perfect a
view OF the strange sight. From Central Park to
the Battery the streets were crowded with an
eager throng, anxious to behold phenomenon
they had never witnessed before and certainly
never will again. for the same science that dlscov ;
cred the eclipse OF October 25 1874, tells US
that another total one Will not occur
again for one thousand years. To those who had
time to stop and listen to some OF the conversa-
ton INDUCED In by the crowds feast Of fun II not
OF reason was had. There were those who be-
Meved the thing, as they expressed 1t, to be vile
hoax gotten up TO sell newspapers, and at the
same time to sell the pubic but for once these
w1seacres were at fault. The eclipse was gen.
uine success, and but for cloudy sky and fogsy
atmosphere would have been q greater one.
Henry M. Parkhurst's Opinion.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD:-
The probabilities" OF sky sufficiently clear
to AFFORD satisfactory observation OF the total
eclipse OF the moon last night were SO slight that
It was useless to attempt to observe the effect Of
the penumbra, which is scarcely perceptible IN
THE FIRST VISIBLE EFFECT
must have been the encroachment OF the shadow
upon the moons limb. had seen a statement,
apparently on the authority OF Professor New
comb. Of the National Observatory at Washington,
to the effect that the eclipse would begin Eat
twenty-one minutes past twelve
SUNDAY MoRNING.n
Ny surprise that should have made such blum
der as to announce it in the HERALD for q time
nearly half an hour later, after very brief exam
nation disappeared A glance at the Nautical
Almanac revealed the cause OF the discrepancy,
vindlcated my prediction, and, without any great
en0rt Of imagination, also vindicates Professor
Newcomb An interviewer calls upon the astron-
Omer and asks, "When win the eclipse begin Y''
The Professor opens the
NAUTICAL ALMANAC
ut page AIS, and shows him that the moon will
enter the shadow at 'l2h. Ss.7m., W ashington
mean time.n as 1t the same In New York ~ Oh,
no;" says the Professor, "you must apply the
correction for east longttude.n .How much ~
asks the reporter. Professor Newcomb oblgingly
turns to page 4Ss and shows him for New York.
'-0h. l2m. 15.47s;" and having other employments
at the moment besides calculating eclipses, leaves
the reporter to perform an operation, too COM
mon and too simple In an observatory to appear
to require explanation. 'That dash means minus -
SAYS the reporter to himself for his mathematical
education has not been entirely overlooked, "and
minus means to subtract" So he forthwith SUBJ
tracts twelve minutes from each Of the times pre-
dicted In the almanac and telegraphs 1t to New
York. But unfortunately he either was not aware
Of the fact, or overlooked It, that the correction
for longitude is itself subtractive. 80 that he
should have added instead OF subtracting the
twelve minutes. The explanation OF the blunder,
one which Professor Newcomb never could have
made, was so evident that unhesitatingly Sc. my
alarm for halfpast twelve O'Clock.
At 12h. 35m. Tying clouds were rapidly passing
across the disk OF the moon. but its rugged sur.
face could be well seen through good opera glass.
Tycho, visible to the left in the photographs, ng
and DC. Q, appeared as usual at full moon round
crater 1ftyiour miles In diameter and three miles
deep, with rays as If OF lava, extending in all d.
rections, giving 1t the appearance OF the end OF
orange 1t is remarkable tnat these rays are
nearly or quite invisible excepting very nearly at
the full moon. Copernicus, somewhat similar
crater, visible In the
PHOTOGRAPHS, FIG. ], FIG. 8 AND FIG. 6,
above the centre, also was attended by its long
out less conspicuous rays. Mare Crisium and
Mare SerenItatis, large plains, formerly supposed
to be seas, were easily seen as dark spots, the
former to the right near the edge OF the disk, and
the latter, not lar distant, but farther from the
edge and above it. These can be dmly seen upon
FIG. l, FIG. AND FIG. Q.
! carefully scrutinlzed the left hand upper edge,
wnere the indentation appears In fg. l, and ther
was as yet no sign of the shadow.
did not expect to be able to improve upon the
Nautical Almanac time, and carelessly allowed my
preparations Tor protecting the object glass OF my
telescope from the mist TO delay me until
l2h. 4sm. The eclipse had shen commenced;
Nx..A h..an nd
minutes so covered the surface OF the moon
that neither with the opera glass, the finder ICON
sisting OF common sea spyglass, nor with the tel
escope (eight feet in length, and with an eyepece
magnifyinR nfty simes) could single spot be seen
The appearance Of the moon In the telescope is
very exactly represented BY the
PHOTOGRAPH, FIG. l.
But with the finder, and especially with the opera
glass, while the central portion oil the moon could
be much more easily seen, the limb OF the moon
appeared to terminate earlier, making the eclipse
appear more advanced than It really was. con.
tinued to observe the moon alternately with the
telescope and with the opera glass, with the same
difference in the result At H. 2sm. Its appearance
In the telescope closely resembled the
PHOTOGRAPH, FIG. q
At this time again caught O glimpse OF the
Mare Crsium, which, with part OF the neighbor-
ing large dark plains, could be seen az intervals.
until at 1h. som. the shadow had 80 advanced and
tney'ha become so dim that they could no longer
be seen Having set pair OF dividers to the radius
OF the moon, In the diagram in the HERALD ol
Thursday, made frequent comparisons OF the ap-
parent with the predicted phase, finding in every
case that while the position OF the observed part
OF the moon oorresponded with the diagrams the
esrth's shadow appeared somewhat larger than
predicted, although the difference Tar less, on
making careful estimate OF the amount OF the
limb remaining visible In the telescope, than on
comparing with the opera glass. That this was
owing neither to an error In the size OF the shadow
nor 10 materia. error IN the NaVticsl Almanac