160 Royal Astronomical Society. 



seen in this country), than of exploded gunpowder, or anything else 

 I can liken it to. 



The moon's limh again became smooth, leaving a hillock on the 

 eastern side, which, as she advanced, gradually elongated, and be- 

 came pointed, when another post was erected like the former two, 

 but more slowly (so much so that I was nearly turning my eye in 

 another direction, not expecting to see the phenomenon), and re- 

 mained somewhat longer ; this broke in the centre, and the two parts 

 shrunk slowly into the limbs of the sun and moon. 



The clouds which had at the commencement settled down to the 

 western horizon, had again risen, and now approached, and I gave 

 up the hopes of seeing the breaking of the annulus, or end of the 

 eclipse. 



There was not much apparent diminution of light during the ex- 

 istence of the annulus, nor were any stars visible, but everything had 

 a light blue colour. 



At 3 h 7 m p.m. gunpowder was ignited in about two minutes with 

 a lens of three inches diameter ; but at 3 h 23 m p.m. it could not be 

 exploded, although the lens was held over it for seven minutes, and 

 care was previously taken to dry the powder. 



Before the commencement of the eclipse. 



Barometer 2831 inches. 



Thermometer attached 93° 



Ditto exterior 129-5 exposed to the sun. 



Time of first contact l h 38 m 25 s + 



Formation of annulus 3 21 14 



At the middle of the eclipse. 



Barometer 28-27 inches. 



Thermometer attached 89 Q, 7 



Thermometer exterior 92 exposed to the sun. 



Spirit thermometer 84 f ™™m temperature of air 



r ( during the eclipse. 



, The barometer and thermometers are corrected by the standards of the 

 Surveyor-General of India. 



Remarkable Appearances during the total Eclipse of the Moon on 

 March 19, 1848. 



Extract of a letter from Mr. Forster, Bruges. 



" I wish to call your attention to the fact which I have clearly 

 ascertained, that during the whole of the late lunar eclipse of March 19, 

 the shaded surface presented a luminosity quite unusual, probably 

 about three times the intensity of the mean illumination of an eclipsed 

 lunar disc. The light was of a deep red colour. During the totality 

 of the eclipse, the light and dark places on the face of the moon 

 could be almost as well made out as in an ordinary dull moonlight 

 night, and the deep red colour, when the sky was clearest, was very 

 remarkable from the contrasted whiteness of the stars. My obser- 

 vations were made with different telescopes, but all presented the 

 same appearance, and the remarkable luminosity struck every one. 

 The British consul of Ghent, who did not know that there was an 



