532 Solar Eclipse of May 15. 1836. 



species of comparative rarity, and which differs so much 

 in the sexes, that the females were considered as a distinct 

 species by Linnaeus, which he named Colonella ; both names 

 evidently evincing his acquaintance with their social habits. 

 The caterpillar is stated to feed on honey in the nest of the 

 humble bee (Bombuslapidarius) and its allies; and, hence, it is 

 not improbable that the congregation of moths discovered by 

 Mr. Castles had entirely destroyed and usurped the place of 

 a nest of the humble bee. I have seen a nearly similar com- 

 pact congregation of the cocoons of the honey moth (Galleria 

 cereana), which feeds in the hive of the honey bee, subsisting 

 upon the honey. 



Art. V. On the Solar Eclipse of May 15. 1836; with Observa- 

 tions upon the attendant Phenomena. By J. G. Tatem, Esq. 



I had indulged the hope that some one of your astro- 

 nomical correspondents would have given to your readers the 

 report of his observations of the solar eclipse which happened 

 on the 15th of May last; which, as it approached nearer to 

 total obscuration than any that has occurred for some years, 

 and was, in some places, annular, has excited considerable 

 interest. In the absence of others, I have forwarded the notes 

 made by myself, trusting it may induce other observers, more 

 competent, to favour us with their remarks. 



My attention was chiefly directed to the reduction in the 

 temperature, the decrease of light, and the effects produced 

 upon animal and vegetable nature. The exact moment of 

 the moon's shadow entering upon the sun's disc I did not 

 see, having left the garden in consequence of some light clouds 

 collecting and obscuring the sun. On my return, at 1 h. 51 m., 

 the clouds were dispersed, and I found the eclipse had begun, 

 the barometer being then at 30° 28', and the thermometer, in 

 the shade, standing at 70° 50'. The sky was then perfectly 

 clear. Between 2 h. 20 m. and the period of the greatest ob- 

 scuration, 3 h. 20 m., a thermometer, placed so as to receive 

 the direct rays of the sun, had fallen from 78° to 65°. At 

 3 h. 30 m. this thermometer began to rise, and continued 

 rising until the eclipse was over, when it stood at 73° 50'. 

 The thermometer in the shade fell only 3°, and remained very 

 steady. The barometer was but little affected, the depression 

 being but one hundredth of an inch. It is not a little ex- 

 traordinary, that the fall in the thermometer above stated, of 

 13°, exactly coincides with the one noticed by the late Mr. 



