The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-10-10
JUNIORS OF ASTRONOMY
AMUSING ANECDOTES OF LIFE
 IN GREAT oBsERvAToRIEs.
A Puzzled Negro and Solar Eclipse. An Ingenious If Inaccurate Ex-
 planation of the Lengthening
 of Days in Summer.

science, those arid peaks of intellectual research. tenanted only by the deeply learned, may seem wholly unfayorable soil for the cultivation of humor. And of all the sciences that of astronomy might appear to that subtle property which Is the essence of wit; and lies at the root fo laughter. Astronomers. 1t has been supposed, are too absorbed in the contemplation of the sublime to des- cend, even in their moments of unbending, to the ridiculous. and even an astrono- mical joke, could such a curious anomaly exist, would be far above the heads of ordinary mortals. Natural enough as is this supposition. however, 1t Is very far from being the case. Possibly no human beings enjoy a laugh more heartily than do your astronomers, and among them- selves they tell many a good story, to enter into which 1t is by no means neces- sary to be a scientist Take for cx- ample. the tale told by an eminent Ameri- can professor of an eclipse expedition, some years ago, to the Southern States, in which he took part There was in the house where he was staying an old negro servant. whose duty 1t was to look after the chickens of the establishment. The day before the eclipse took place the professor, in an idle moment. called the old man to him and said: Sam, if to- morrow morning, at Il o'clock. you watch your chickens. you will find they will all 20 to roost." Sam was skepticai, or course, but when at the appointed time next day the sun in the heavens was darkened and the chickens. as is their wont, retired to roost, his astonishment knew no bounds.
 He approached the professor in awed wonder--"Massa, how long ago did you know dat dem chickens would go to roost?" "oh. a long time" said the pro lessor, airily. Did you know year ago, Massa?'' Yes" Then dat beats de debil.'' exclaimed the astonished old man. .Dem chickens weren't matched a year ago." It will be noticed that in this case 1t was the power of prediction which puzzled the negro servant. fhe astronomer himself is puzzled by another phenomenon of a solar eclipse-that mys- terious and beautiful appendage surround ing the hidden sun at totality. known as the corona, the nature of which has yet to be explained. A story is toia or tne late Professor She'll of Amherst College, which relates how he once asked for definition of the solar corona from mem Der of his class in astronomy. The young man, after good deal Of hesita- tion and a dread consciousness or lm- nendinr failure plunged desperately into the statement that he did know what the corona was, but had forgotten. The professor turned to his class with tragic gesture. What an incalcuiaoie loss to science! he exclaimed, with emo tion; '4he only man who ever knew what the suns corona is. and he has forgot ten!"
 Astronomical Errors.
 The astronomical errors of the unlearn- ed prove a fertile source of amusement in exnert circles. "Tell me-" said man to an eminent living English astronomer. not long ago, 'Is 1t still considered propa- ble that the tides are caused oy ne moon?" The man of science replied that to the best of his belief it was. and asked in turn whether the inquirer had any serious reason for questioning the reia- tionship Well. I don't know, was .ne answer; "sometimes when there IS no moon there seems to be tide all the sams" Eaually poser, though with bet fer cause was an intelligent workman who sought information as to the causes which Icd to a soiar eclipse. He had been max" ing inuuiries, and asked whether IL was not true that the phenomenon was ohe 'o the moon getting in front Of the sun ana obstructing its light
 On heinz assured that this was so, he further inuuired whether 1t was not tho new moon which did this. "fes,' was the answer You are not Tar wohs'
 .s,Then how is It." he objected. that the ,av nooon which is a crescent can hide the light of the sun which is globe?Y A query like this might well have puz- zled certain of those youths whose an- awers to astronomical examinations pa- pers prove a perennial delight to tneir examiners. Account for the lengtnenihg of the days in summer, was one or these questions, and the answer of the ingenious candidate was to the enect that ''all things expand with heat-why not the day also?' Possibly the more recent candidate who was asked to determine the time at sea- and who began his reply with First, set the transit instrument up on deck" was astonished that his work did not receive full marks; but he might have consoled himself with the thought that even great minds are liable to error in matters of this sort. There Is a tale | vet told at Cambridge of a senior WranS- | Ter who set himself to find the time of sunrise on a given day at a given place, | and was much distressed when the an- swer came out in thousands of miles. The explanation of the theory of the "pr'- cession of the Equinoxes." always puH- zlinR to the astronomical tyro, is well l known catch question with examiners. No l doubt the youth who wrote the following imagined he had solved the difficulty lu-
 cidly and briefly: "As the earth rotates on its axis gradually change places; the North Pole very slowly gets to the po- sition of the South Pole. and the South Pole becomes the North Pole" Mention of the poles will recall the famous exam pie. cited frequently by Sir Robert Ball in his lectures, of the sunfiower thought lessly planted within the Arctic Circle As Is well known, during the summ 1T
 months m the extreme northern regions tho sun never sets, but circles round the horizon all the twenty-four hours. The unfortunate sunhower therefore. so he tale runs, twisting its head round. as Is it's wont, to follow the sunbeams, w.ls finally reduced to complete strangulauon in it's fruitless efforts to adapt itself to the unfamiliar conditions.
 Observatory Anecdotes.
 Some little while back the pages of Punch were enlivered by an astronomical joke A girl is asked if she can identify the planet Jupiter in the evening sky. She answers she can, for 1t Is exactly two yards and a half to the right of the Great Bear; and she further explains that she has measured 1t carefully with hsr umbrella. At the time when all Eng land was waiting with deepest interest the great shower of meteors foretold for