The Portland daily press., 1889-12-25
THE WAVES BECAME A LURID PURPLE.
Professor Todd's Account Of the To-
tai Eclipse of the Sun.
Valuable Results Obtained by the
American observers In Africa.
Popular ideas of the Climate Of
West Africa Entirely Wrong.

New YORK, December 24-The Herald
prints the following from its European edi-
tion:
ST. PAUL DE LoANDA, December 23.-The
weather was clear during the first part of
the eclipse, but the sky was obscured about
the time OF totality. The direct view with
the photoheliograph Of 40 foot focus proved
an entire success, and the equatorial mount
ing for it worked very successfully. This
instrument was managed by Professor Bige-
low and and the new circumpolar plates of
90 inches in diameter were handled without
difficulty. Each plate has ten images of the
partially eclipse. ..un on it,and the measure
ments of each image will give accurate cor
rectlons to the position of the moon relative
to the sun.
We obtained seventy of these pictures be-
fore the middle of the eclipse and ten after
totality. There was no hitch in the work
ings of the apparatus, which was all auto
matic, and with an extra Photographic as
take twelve of fifteen hundred pictures Of
the eclipse in all its partial phases, had
there been any object in so doing.
Professor Pickering's cloud recorder, for
giving complete pictures of the eclipse, was
mounted on a secure foundation and operat-
ed in connection with other apparatus.
The beginning of the total eclipse or the
the second contact was lost in the clouds
and could not be observed, and the third
contact wes lost in the clouds and was not
observed. The end of the eclipse, or fourth
and last contact happened in the clouds.
Neither Photographic records nor optical
observations of it were possible. The pneu-
matte movements of all the Photographic ap-
paratus were thoroughly accurate. Not only
were the durations of the exposures regulat-
Qnf1ra
OF the beginning and ending of every expos
ure was automatically recorded on the same
apparatus.
1t is demonstrated that the principle is cor.
rect, and with pneumatic valves it is shown
to be possible to operate five telescope cam
eras as easily as two or three have been man
aged in eclipse work heretofore.
The U nlted States ship Pensacola has re-
turned to Cape Led0 from her trip out at sea
to observe the eclipse. The ocean party was
only partially successful. and they bring
back few pictures OF the eclipse, some Of
which will be seryiceable. The longitude of
st. Paul de Loanda will not be determined
by the exchange of cable signals with the
Royal Observatory at Cape Town.
The col0rs, few minutes before totality,
both UD land and the sky, were magnificent.
The moons shadow when approaching our
station at Cape Ledo, swept over the ocean
toward us with velocity actually terrifying.
The water, which in the sunlight had been
OF lovely lndeScriDable peacock blue or
green, assumed dark livid green, almost
black and the comb of breakers, snow white
in ordinary day light, under the gloom Of the
eclipse broke into foam of lurid purple.
The health of all the members of the party
has been good throughout, and the popular
idea of the dangerous character of the eli
mate of West Africa has been proved en-
tirely wrong by the experience of our party.
There was no marked change in the day
light until the sun was nearly covered. Then
strange, portentous, pallid-obscurity
spread over the earth. The sky turned livid
gray, inducing the feeling that some terrible
catastrophe was near at hand.
The instruments ara being dismounted
and packed for transport preparatory to
breaking up camp. Everything will be on
board the Pensacola in a few days.
The atmospheric conditions varied very
much during the eclipse, alternating with
cloud and sunshine, but the results are not
disappointing. During the total eclipse sew
eral prominences attained great distinctness
and brilliancy. The air temperature fell
slightly below its normal. the lowest temper
ature occurring several minutes after totali-
ty. PROF. DAVID p. TODD.