282 



EECEEATIYE SCIENCE. 



worthy of note. I knew, however, that up- 

 wards of eight-tenths of the disc would be 

 covered, and I was anxious to observe with 

 what degree of distinctness the eclipsed por- 

 tion could be viewed, partly as an interesting 

 fact, and partly with a view of verifying or 



Lunar Eclipse: 2h. 20m. a.m., Feb. 7th, 1800 



discovering the weak points of an engraving 

 (in which I am concerned) of a lunar eclipse. 

 After seeing the increasing darkness of 

 the penumbra softly merging into the true 

 shadow at the commencement of the eclipse 

 (about one o'clock, a.m., Grreenwich time), I 

 proceeded with pencil and paper, dimly lighted 

 by a distant lamp, to note by name the dif- 



ferent lunar mountains and plains (the so- 

 called seas), over which the shadow passed ; 

 and also a few other circumstances, such as 

 the great clearness of the planet Saturn, and 

 the colours of the halo round the moon, when 

 light clouds passed across its disc. During 

 the first hour and ten minutes I had seen 

 nothing unexpected ; but had much enjoyed 

 the time when the sensation of quiet and 

 calm is so soothing, and in itself such matter 

 for thankfulness ; and when the mind turns 

 to think on Him " who hath created all these 

 things," and to feel with especial distinctness 

 on an occasion like this, when a phenomenon 

 occurs so truly to its appointed time, "He 

 is strong in power ; not onefaileth." 



I had repeatedly written down my obser- 

 vations of the remarkable clearness with 

 which the moon's eclipsed outline could be 

 seen, both with the naked eye, and with the 

 telescope ; at Ih. 58m., however, I suddenly 

 noted the ruddy colour of a portion of the 

 moon. I may as well give my notes in the 

 original words, as copied next day in a more 

 connected form : — " Ih. 58m. ((xreenwich 

 time). — I am suddenly struck by the fact that 

 the whole of the western seas of the moon are 

 showing through the shadow with singular 

 sharpness, and that the whole region where 

 they lie has assumed a decidedly reddish 

 tinge, attaining its greatest brightness at a 

 sort of temporary polar region, having ' En- 

 dymion ' about the position of its imaginary 

 pole. I particularly notice that the Lake of 

 Sleep has disappeared in this brightness, 

 instead of standing out in a darker shade ; 

 and I notice that this so-called ^oZar region is 

 not parallel with the rim of the shadow, but 

 rather west of it. 2h. 15m. — Some clouds, 

 though very thin and transparent, now inter- 

 vene. 2h. 20m. — The sky is now cleared. 

 How extraordinary is the appearance of the 

 moon ! Meddish, is not the word to express 

 it ; it is red — red-hot ! I endeavour to think 

 of various red objects with which to compare 

 it, and nothing seems so like as a red-hoi 



