Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-09-11
Historical Sun Darkenings.

In 636. 567 and 626 we find mention oi
long periods of diminished sunlight.
Schnurrer records that In 733, year
after the Saracens had been driven back
beyond the Pyrenees, consequent on
their defeat mt Tours, 1.-THE sun darkened
In an alarming manner on August 10
there appeared to be no eclipse by the
moon, but rather an interruption from
some meteoric substance" There was
an eclipse of the sun, annaiar, but nearly
total, on the morning of August II IL Is
mentioned in the Saxon Chronicle" )"
which tells us that 1.-THE suns disc was
like black shield" The near coinci-
dence of date suggests, in this case, n
connection between the darkness and
the eclipse. In 93i, according to Port
uguese historian, the sun lost It's ordi-
nary light for several months; and this
is followed by the doubtful statement
that an opening in the sky seemed To
take place, with many flashes of light
ming, and the full blaze of sunshine was
suddenly restored. In 1901, on Septem-
ber 90 not 81, as given in some of the
translations of IIumboldts Cosmos
Schnurrer relates that there was "A dark
ening of the sun which lasted three
hours, after which IL had peculiar
"Illtll kItll ~
century later (or in June. 1l9l, accord
ing to Schnurrer) the sun was again
darkened, with certain attendant effects
upon nature. Here the cause is easily
found-on June % there was "a total
eclipse. in which the moons shadow
traversed the continent of Europe from
Holland to the Crimea; the &C lipse was
total in this country between the coasts
of Cumberland and Yorkshire. Erman
refers to- sun darkening on February
10, ll06, which was accompanied by me-
teors. and we read in the cometo-
graphics that on the ith-or, according
to others. on the 5th-of February, in
this year. q star was seen from the third
to the ninth hour of the day, which was
distant from the sun "only foot and n
half" Matthew Paris and Matthew Of
Westminster term this star n comet, and
we may take IL To have been the same
which, later in the Same month, WAS
observed in China under the sign
Pisces, and which. Mt one time. was
supposed to have been identical with
the great comet of 1850; this body,
however. would not appear to have
been sufficiently near the earth, a..
even on the assumption of dcnser
constitution than usual with comets,
to account for diminution of the so
lar rays by its Intervention. On the
last day of February. 1906. according
to Spanish writer. there was COM
plete darkness for six hours. In l2il.
" five months after the Mongol battle
of Leignitz," the sun was so obscured
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
undoubtedly due to the total eclipse of
October 9. of which Professor Schia-
parelli has collected full account
from the Italian writers. Lastly. in
1917, from April 1926. Kcpler relates,
on the authority Of Comma. 1.-THE sun
appeared as though suffused with
blood, and many stars were visible at
MONDAY" Schnurrer thought this
phenomenon was what the Germans
call Hohcnrauch." Notwithstanding
the visibility Of stars. From the above
brief summary Of what have been con-
sidered sun darkcnings. we see that in
several cases the diminution 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 any prediction Of n period
of darkness. The nervous in these
matters, and it would really appear
that such exist. may take consolation
therefrom.-J. r. Hind. in Nature.