New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-08-31
RESULTS OF THE SOLAR ECLIPSE.

M J. Norman LoekyeT IN Letter London DAILY Ns5&
Without going too much INTO detail | viii
go 0veT With the chiefs of the different parties
with the single exception OF Professor Hal, who Is
whose opinion as the dscoverer Of the IA
teIlites Of Mars, the greatest weight e 70
usual Those who have observed the greatest number
OF eclpses strongest on this point The oontIast
perhaps, most striking between thls ecpSe anu ea'
on another point the evidence is ovorwheming Since
the of spectrOscOpe in this branch OF inquiry the
spectrum Of the has been observed TO be mixed
onethat is, bright lines as we'll as continuous spec
1871 these lines were very bright to the eye
much brighter than the continuous spectrum While IN
time the record showed the lines TO be much Df ghter
than the continuous spectrum. Now, az IL generally
speera there faint continuous spectrum accompany
ing the lines, 1t was thought that the specu o. le so
This years observations have quite dispeed TINS Idea
for the TWO clements Oh the c0aod" Sirsctiy
vary inVersely The continuous spectrum mas peeh seen
and photographed by itself, without any bright INES
NOW for the Interpretation Of this hieroglyphic lau-
guage. The gases which we're hlgh up IN the suns
efmospheTe at the last epoch Of maximum sun
spots Hs7D hive almost entirely retreated to lower
level as these are 10 large extent carriers OF
heat from the to the exterior OF the sun the L
terror is cooler 10 their absence and indeed cool enough
TO allow h to hold in suspension larger Pereeisge or
trlm is due natural sugges ion touching these par.
fcles is that they consist OF meteore matter AMI al
the phenomena to which attention mas been drawn can
he expaned by suppOsiDg that these meteOrtes sur.
round the SUM- and that at the minimum sunspot period
they can exist lower down In consequence OF the reduced
temperature Of the SUMS atmosphere at that time II
this suggestion, which Is the one IN favor ont here 10
ndorsed have partial cause OF reduced solar rada
Next comes the Endorsement Of the fact that the
IL sends 10 US IS not Professor Barker, with DR.
Draper's party at Rawlns, though he saw no Gdght
lines "a W dark ones I'm abundance; and Professor Mot
ION cot distinct OF radia polarization thereby
indorsing the result obtained In 1871 Toe object OF
these observations by the pOlariscOpe Is 10 determine
whether and In what plane Light is Rejected ana Tor
the light to be reflected to as by particles IN inc slr
atmOsphere must imagine our eye the centre OF the
sum- and particle TO lie in one plane H. further @e
Imagine infinite series OF zoe sud-
radius of the will lie IN one OF them have been
particular IN stating this because Professor Hastnga
great authority IN optical matters declares tbat 10 re-
Election takes place at right angles 70 these raels
planes In other words, ne declares ehs h hne %
Market this result Is easily explained " suppcsnIce
crystals to be present ~ the suns anu no
more astOnshed than Professor Hastings al hs oDerYa
ton. -. -. -,
discovered, If, indeed, Vulcan has not been rsfoun
Professor WasOn's work has been acknowledged on e
hands TO he verItable de force The Naval Or
seryatOry Ensructions contained map OF all stars
near the sun down to the seventh magnitude ftoies-
sor Watson determined TO review all these, aud pro
yded his equatorial with paperctrees on when 10 marx
the difference Of right ascension and declinauon be-
tween any body marked on the chart aud the sun
After the eclipse and before the INSTRUMENT was us
Finally as to the construction of the corous Number
been secured aud usual though there Is almost per-
feet agreement the structure OF the lower potion
the RAYS aud have been very yar0nsly OBJ
served The upper aud lower portions OF the sun were
graced by the most exquisite tracery bending over
right aud left like pumes OF ostrich feathers, the inter
walls between them being OF delicate blue Near the so
lar equator the structure was not so obvious SUM-
was there for Professor Boss saw II come out Gd put
safe he had fixed his eye on one portion Tor two
minutes The structure distinctly less hianentOus
than in 1871. With regard TO the streanefs there
appears 10 have been two sets--One along
the eeliptc, giving rise TO the appearance OF
another at right angles TO this by another set
Neither of these systems of visible In
telescope though the OF the ecptea ones appears
photographs On this point tue greatest weight
feet high Most fortunately the weather there as else
where was superb and the corona was seen as ~ vas
never before The clearness OF the SKY IN TINS re-
Rion when the weather Is good Is Simply MOhdefIui
individual shine out Even at Rawllns Professor
Watson could the satellites Of Jupiter with the NAKED
eve, At Pixies Peak General Myer saw the eOrons FOR
fully five minutes after totally was over "hle
sea level only three minutes after the eclipse was
over Professor Cleveland Able whO rs already stdted
observed below the Peak, the eeptc streaers e1-
tending to a distance Of twelve solar dGmetcrs Whue
ne saw nothing OF the north and south orepretty con-
elusive evidence In favor OF their subjecuy from
their appearance he has little doubt OF iher being me-
teOr streams. Professor NewcOmb saw the eeilpslo
streamers almost equally we'll at Separation by the hep
novel cOnFlYance. He had disc erected ON hlkh
pole at some distance from his telescope, 50 that no
could momentarly the dark moon and corona ana
observe external phenomena with the naked eye IN
this way the steamers extending nearly as iE
Able did. still lie explains them Inherently
He considers they Indicate the true zodaeal light
No doubt there difficulties surrounding DOtn sug
gestOns and here again we soc the need lOr luture
thought and work.