ASTKOXOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 387 



polarized. This was in every way consentaneous to the idea that the 

 light of the sun was deflected in some way to form the corona. If 

 that was so, he (Professor Airy) knew of no explanation but that 

 there was something like an atmosphere extending to the moon, or 

 possibly further. The red prominences were seen in great beauty 

 during this eclipse. The question had been raised, whether they 

 belonged to the sun, the moon, or something intermediate. By 

 means of a model, Professor Airy showed that if the prominences 

 belonged to the moon, they would follow her ; but if they belonged 

 to the sun, they would be shortened on one side and lengthened on 

 the other, during the passage.. Prima facie, this was a -strong argu- 

 ment that they were parts of the sun. But Mr. Fahey pointed out 

 this : Supposing a prominence at the top of the sun ; when totality 

 was just beginning, it would be to the left of the moon's centre ; it 

 would be over the centre as the moon advanced, and would pass on 

 to the right of the moon's centre as the eclipse advanced. It was 

 impossible that these fantastic appearances could be represented in 

 the same manner by all parts of the moon's limb. IMr. Bruhn, of 

 Lcipsic, who went to the east of Spain, determined to observe par- 

 ticularly the brilliant cusps of the sun ; and he recorded that the red 

 prominences appeared before the sun had disappeared. He compared 

 the position of one of the prominences with that of the bright cusp. 

 The place of the cusp at a particular moment could be calculated 

 with the greatest accuracy. He found* that if the cusp belonged to 

 the moon, it must have shifted twenty-six degrees on the moon's 

 limb ; but that if it belonged to the sun, it had not shifted one degree 

 during the time he was observing. This was almost irresistible evi- 

 dence that the red prominences were attached to the sun. In 1851, 

 Mr. Busch, of Konigsberg, took a daguerreotype of the moon and the 

 prominences during the eclipse ; but it was not a very successful at- 

 tempt. In 1860, Father Secchi obtained five small photographs, and 

 M. De la Rue two large ones ; with these he had obtained data which 

 satisfied him that the prominences were connected with the sun. 



Some British officers stationed on the western coast of America 

 observed the totality from Puget Sound, when the sun was only two 

 degrees above the horizon ; and he had received from them some ad- 

 mirable sketches. He thus had drawings of the red prominences as 

 they appeared at Vancouver's Island, and on the eastern side of 

 Spain, just the extreme limits of the zone of observation. Were 

 the prominences seen the same in the two cases ? He could not say 

 that they were, although he had tried to reconcile them. But was 

 it likely that there should be a change ? The total obscuration at 

 Vancouver's Island was two hours earlier than at the eastern side of 

 Spain ; and if the sun was constantly boiling up, and these protuber- 

 ances were from fumes, there was nothing to wonder at if there 



' f-j 



was a change during that time. All he knew was that there was 

 no sensible change while the eclipse was passing over Spain. If at- 

 tached to the sun, could we see these red prominences at other times 

 than during an eclipse ? And if not, why not ? He had tried all 

 ho could to do so with apparatus, but had never succeeded. He lent 

 the apparatus to Mr. Piazzi Smyth, when he went to the Peak of 

 Tenenffe ; but that gentleman failed to see the protuberances. But 



