The Princeton union., 1879-08-20
Historical Sun-Darkenings.

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much exercised by a representation of
an approaching period Of sun-darkenlng
to extend over several days. History
does record instances in which the sun
has been abnormally obscured, or its
light paled to such an extent that stars
have come into view in the daytime, and
Erman, Humbolt, and other writers have
brought these occasions into prominent
notice, the former in connection with the
presumed passage Of dense metesric
streams between the earth and the sun.
The earliest mention Of such phenome-
non appears to be in the year B. c. a.,
about the time Of the death of julius
Caesar, when we read in Plutarch and
Dio Cassius that the sun was paler than
usual for whole year, and gave less
heat, the air continuing cold and misty.
The darkness for two hours on August %,
A. D. 356, appears to have preceded the
great earthquake of Nicomedia. Two wears
later, in all the eastern provinces Of the
Roman Empire, we are told, there was
"caligo a primo aurorse eXortu adusQue
meridiem,' and the stars were seen, the
further description being rather applica-
ble to total solar eclipse; but neither the
eclipse of March 4, $50, nor that of Au
gust % would be visible in those parts.
Again when Alaric appeared before Rome,
the darkness was such that stars were
seen in the daytime (Schnurrer's ChrontE
der Seuchen). Following the Iablettes
ChronoIogiques Of the Able Lenglet Du-
fresnoy, Alaric invested Rome A. D. 400,
and became master Of the city on August
"A, 40. There was visible eclipse of
the sun on June 18 of the latter year,
therefore while the siege was in progress;
but On calculating the circumstances
under which it would be seen at Rome,
introducing the latest lunar elements, it
appears tnat little more than half the suns
disk would be covered at the greatest
phase, about eh. 40 m. p. M, and no SEN
sible dinlirution ofsunlight would be oc-
casioned by the eclipse. In $50, 767,
and S26 we find mention of long periods
of diminished sunlight. Schnurrer re-
cords that in 1873, a year after the Saracens
had been driven back beyond the Pyre-
nees, consequent on their defeat at Tours,
"the sun darkened in an alarming man
uer on August 10; there appeared to be
no eclipse by the moon but rather an in
terruptlon from some meteoric subs tance.'
In 954, according to Portuguese his
torian, the sun lost its ordinary light for
several months; this is followed by the
doubtful statement that an opening in
the sky seemed to take place, with many
flashes Of lightning, and the full blaze of
sunshine was suddenly restored. In 1893,
on September 30, not 81, as given in some
of the translations Of Humbolt's Cosmos,
Schnurrer relates that there was a dark
ening of the sun which lasted three hours,
and after which it had peculiar color,
which occasioned great alarm. In another
place we read: Emit eclipsis Soils Il Kal.
Octob. fere tres horas: Sol circa meridiem
dire nigrescebat:'' there was no visible
eclipse at this time, and the November
eclipse was central only in the southern
parts of the earth. A century later, or in
June, 1851, according to Schnurrer, the
sun was again darkened, with certain at
tending effects upon nature. Here the
cause is easily found on June % there was
a total eclipse, in which the moons shad-
ow traversed the continent of Europe
from Holland to the Crimea; the eclipse
was total in England between the coasts
OF Cumberland and Yorkshire Erman
refers to a sun darkening on FEBRUARY 10,
11O6, which was accompanied by me
teors, and we read in the cometographies
that on the 4th, or, according to others,
on the 5th, Of February, In this year, a
star was seen from the third to the ninth
hour of the day, which was distant from
the sun ''only foot and half" Mat
thew Paris and Matthew of Westminster
term this star a comet, and we may take
it to have been the same which, later in
the same month. was observed in China
under the sign Pisces, and which at one
time was supposed to have been identical
with the great comet of 1880; this body,
however, would not appear to have been
sufficiently near the earth, even on the
assumption of denser constitution than
usual with comets, to account for a
dlminution of the solar rays by its
Intervention. On the last day of
February, 1906, according to Spanish
writer, there was complete darkness for
six hours. In 1241, five months after the
Mongol battle of Leignitz," the sun was
so obscure and the darkness became so
great that the stars were seen at the ninth
hour about Michaelmas. In this case.
again the darkness referred to was un-
doubtedly due to the total eclipse on Oc-
tober 6, OF which Professor Schiaparelli
has collected full account from the
Italian writers. Lastly in 1547, from
April % 20 Kelpler relates, on the au-
thority Of Gemma. ''The sun appeared
as though sutfused with blood, and many
stars were visible at MONDAY"
From the above brief summary of what
have been considered abnormal sun-dark-
enings, we see that in several cases the
diminutlon Of light has been due to the
ordinary effects Of total eclipse, while
it is clear that there are no grounds in the
historical evidence for my prediction of
a period Of darkness The nervous in
these matters-and it would really ap-
pear that such exist--may therefore dis
miss their fears.-Harper's WeekZv.
The Young Mans First Hat.