28 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



had been attended to, so that the error to be feared on this 

 account will be very small. A few minutes before the total 

 phase, I swept over regions east and west of the sun from 

 eight to fifteen degrees distant; but I did not see any star. 

 Immediately after the totality, I began sweeps east and west, 

 extending about eight degrees from the sun. The first sweeps 

 were towards the east. On the fifth sweep I found between 

 the sun and Theta Cancri, and farther south, a star of the 4% 

 magnitude, as estimated at the instant, which immediately 

 attracted my attention on account of its general appearance. 

 I had committed to memory the relative positions of the stars 

 in the neighborhood of the sun, and I had placed the chart of 

 the region conveniently before me for ready reference when- 

 ever required. There was a fainter star west and north of 

 T/ieta Cancri, as shown on the chart, and I could not be sure of 

 the place without an actual measurement. The object which 

 I had in the field shone with an intensely ruddy light, and it 

 certainly had a disk larger than the spurious disk of a star. 

 . . . Having made the record, I placed my eye again at the 

 telescope, and saw that there had been no disturbance of its 

 position. I noticed, further, that the object in the field did 

 not present any elongation, such as might be expected if it 

 were a comet in that position. The sweeps were then con- 

 tinued, and I finally brought into the field what I supposed 

 to be Gamma Cancri, although it appeared very much bright- 

 er than Delta Cancri, which I had seen near the sun at the 

 commencement of the search during the totality. I proceed- 

 ed to record its position on the circles. Before this was com- 

 pleted the total phase had ended, and I ran across to where 

 Professor Xewcomb was observing, in hopes of being able to 

 direct his larger telescope, with graduated circles, upon the 

 object first seen before the sunlight would interfere; but he 

 was reading his circles for an object which he had in the 

 field, and his telescope could not be disturbed. Thereupon 

 I returned to my own telescope ; but the sunlight had already 

 become so bright that further observations were impossible, 

 and hence I could not assure myself that a gust of wind had 

 not disturbed the instrument before I had marked the last 

 pointing. . . . The places of the sun were again recorded and 

 verified at suitable intervals, so that the position of the star 

 (which I believe to be an intra-Mereurial planet) can be de- 



