THE 



POPULAR SCIENCE 



MONTHLY. 



AUGUST, 1905. 



AN ECLIPSE OBSERVER'S EXPERIENCES IN SUMATRA. 



By Professor CHARLES DILLON PERRINE, 



ASTRONOMEK AT THE LICK OBSERVATORY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 



r T^OTAL eclipses of the sun are often visible only from out-of-the- 

 -*- way corners of the earth, necessitating long journeys from the 

 fixed observatories to observe them. The path of totality of the 

 Sumatra (1901) eclipse extended from the southern Indian Ocean 

 near the African coast northeast across Mauritius, thence across cen- 

 tral Sumatra and the neighboring islands, Borneo, Celebes and New 

 Guinea. The most favorable location, astronomically speaking, was 

 in Sumatra, where the duration of totality was longest and the sun, 

 at the time of the eclipse, was near the zenith. These considerations 

 led nearly all of the expeditions to choose points near Padang as sites 

 for their observing stations. 



The two observers* from the Lick Observatory, with four tons of 

 instruments and supplies, sailed from San Francisco on February 19, 

 going by way of Honolulu and Japan to Hong Kong, and thence to 

 Singapore, Batavia and Padang. At Singapore we took a steamer of 

 the Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij for the 500 mile run to 

 Batavia. On the ' Coen ' Dutch customs prevailed. The early morn- 

 ing, from daylight to nine o'clock, sees the men promenading the 

 decks or lounging about in pajamas and loose slippers. There is no 

 rising call or call for breakfast. One rises when he pleases (usually 

 earlv, to take advantage of the coolest part of the day), bathes and 

 breakfasts at will. The ladies appear at breakfast attired in loose 



* C. D. Perrine, astronomer in charge of the Wm. H. Crocker Eclipse Ex- 

 pedition, and R. H. Curtiss, chief assistant. 



vol. lxvit. — 19. 



