AN ECLIPSE EXPEDITION TO SPAIN 563 



receive our messages; and for this not a single cent of money was 

 asked or expected. It was found that fifty miles to the west of us, at 

 Albania, where were the observers from the Lick Observatory under 

 Professor Campbell, there were thin clouds, while one hundred miles to 

 the east along the Mediterranean coast the Englishmen were even more 

 unfortunate in having the clouds denser. In the northeastern part 

 of Spain at Burgos more astronomers were located than at any one 

 place, and here too was King Alfonso of Spain. Five minutes before 

 totality it was pouring rain there, but as if by a miracle a little blue 

 patch of sky appeared, and the eclipse was seen under perfect condi- 

 tions. The weather along the eclipse track was : in Labrador, cloudy, 

 no observations made ; in Spain, cloudy and clear ; in the islands of the 

 Mediterranean, cloudy; on the coast of Africa, slightly cloudy; but 

 further inland and along the rest of the eclipse track the skies were 

 perfect. All three parties of the Naval Observatory were fortunate 

 in having their work unhindered by a single cloud. 



My own work was entirely spectroscopic. The photographic plates 

 were developed within the walls of the college of Daroca, and in the 

 long hours necessary for this work I was greatly encouraged and assisted 

 by my good friend the rector of the college, Padre Felix Alvirez. 

 Daily intercourse with this reverend father endeared him to me very 

 much, and Srs. Lorente, Soria and Padre Felix made my stay in 

 Daroca one of the most interesting spots of my whole life by the kind- 

 ness with which they bore my imperfect Spanish, by the interesting 

 bits of history they told of Daroca and by the deep insight each gave 

 of the courtesy of a Spanish gentleman's heart. 



The developed plates show that a great amount of detail had been 

 caught, on one plate there being no less than twenty-five hundred lines 

 all in good focus. A careful and accurate measurement made of the 

 position of these lines of the spectrum will give much of scientific 

 interest about the constitution of the sun's atmosphere. 



As a result of the observations of this latest eclipse much valuable 

 information will undoubtedly be gained about the sun and its imme- 

 diate surroundings. These discoveries, however, will all be in minor 

 details, and it is hardly probable there will be any wonderful or start- 

 ling revelations made. 



It is a long time till the next eclipse to be generally observed in 

 1912, and astronomers will have plenty of time to fully investigate 

 their photographs of this past summer. 



The instruments that took weeks to mount and adjust were easily 

 pulled apart and packed, and in a few days after the eclipse everything 

 was in readiness to be transshipped home. 



The writer left Spain with many regrets, and with many happy 

 recollections of a pleasant and profitable time spent among the courtly 

 Spaniards. 



