EECEEATIVE SCIENCE. 



279 



Attempts have sometimes been made to 

 join the fac-similes of the two sides of a coin, 

 so as to give them a solid appearance, like 

 the original. These attempts have not suc- 

 ceeded well, and, what is more to the point, 

 they would not be so useful thus finished as 

 when mounted in a difFerent manner. For 



of which are just large enough to admit a 

 florin, or its fac-simile, when the card is cut 

 away for that purpose. Into tliese orifices 

 insert the fac-similes,. and press the rims 

 close up to the under side of the card. Then 

 take another card, and gum it to the under 

 side of the first, in order to keep the fac- 



cabinets, it is better to have the fac-similes 

 so mounted as tliat both may be seen at a 

 glance. The superfluous rim, which is given 

 to the specimens we have described, is of 

 great service in this respect. 



Take a card, and draw upon it two series 

 of concentric circles (Fig. 8), the inner ones 



similes from dropping out of their places. 

 They are then ready for the cabinet, and 

 will present an appearance similar to that in 

 Fig. 8, the concentric circles giving the 

 mounting a finish which well repays the 

 trouble bestowed upon them. 



E. BiTHELL. 



THE LV^A^ IICLIPSE OF FEBEUAliT ?, 186Q. 



Although an eclipse of the moon falls far 

 short of ^r solar eclipse in astronomical im- 

 portance, i^ y§t possesses an iitterest of its 

 own, from the varying appearances exhibited 

 by our eclipsed satellite, and also from the 

 picturesque effpct prpclucpdj as tl^p writer can 

 testify after witnessing the phenomenon of 

 February 7th. 



The physical peculiarity which has at- 

 tracted the attention of astronomers during a 

 lunar eclipse, is that ruddy hue by means of 

 which the moon is rendered visible even 

 when totally immersed in the earth's shadow. 

 The cause of this phenomenon long remained 

 unknown ; by some persons it was attributed 



to a suppasp^ inherent light i^ i}ie moon's 

 surface, hx^t it seemed impossible to reconcile 

 this explanation with the appearance of the 

 moon in o^her parts of her orbit* The great 

 Kepler solved the difficulty ; he was the first 

 to show thf^t this phpno^nenon was pccasioned 

 by the refraction of the eartKs atmosphere. 



Let not- the reader pass lightly over this 

 sentence, with the remark, " It is caused by 

 refraction." The subject is curious and in- 

 teresting, and the words of Kepler were 

 weighty. He expresses his explanation in 

 this way: — "The sun's rays are inflected in 

 their passage through the earth's atmosphere, 

 and thrown into the cone of shadow." That 



