CORRESPONDENCE. 109 



lar at Whitby ; but that beautiful phenomenon was certainly wit- 

 nessed there, though the period, calculating from the formation to 

 the dissolution of the annulus, did not exceed one minute thirty se- 

 conds : it was accompanied by a tremulous or undulatory motion, 

 and seemed as if the lines were interrupted, or appeared to break or 

 dissolve into each other. 



On the evening previous to the eclipse, the atmosphere exhibited 

 considerable dryness, for a saline efflorescence had covered the 

 entire surface of the pier like hoar frost. 



Prior to the commencement of the phenomenon on the 15tli 

 May, I retreated from Whitby and took my station in a sequestered 

 spot among the cliffs, that I might in solitude and silence contem- 

 plate, undisturbed, the glorious spectacle. In the shade at this 

 spot at lh. and 42' p. m. the thermometer indicated a temperature 

 of 68° F. ; it then fell gradually at the rate nearly of two degrees 

 for every ten minutes. At the period of the formation of the annu- 

 lus, and of course of that of greatest obscuration, the temperature 

 had fallen to 53° F. From this moment it gradually rose, and the 

 thermometer at the close of the eclipse stood at 60° F. It is stated 

 that during the period of greatest obscuration in the total eclipse of 

 1724, the thermometer had fallen only 2°. Short says, in reference 

 to the eclipse of 1748, that they experienced no perceptible sensa- 

 tion of cold during its progress ; but M. Cassini de Thury, who ac- 

 companied the King of France to Compeigne to observe this eclipse, 

 states the reverse, though the thermometer fell only 2°. (Reamur?) 

 In the present case, I not only became sensible of the increased cold, 

 but the grassy carpet of the ground around me felt perceptibly 

 damp. In fact, the hygrometry of the atmosphere was considerably 

 changed. At 2h. and 50' p. m. the flowers of the Jicaria ranuncu- 

 loides began to close, were soon afterwards followed by those of the 

 daisy, and towards the termination of the eclipse all had sunk to 

 rest, and the closure of their petals was complete ; forming a beau- 

 tiful illustration of the somnns of that great naturalist, the distin- 

 guished Linneus, as Applied by him to the repose of plants. Seve- 

 ral other flowers which enamelled the sod around me, were also 

 more or less affected. A few flowers of the daisy and ficaria ranun- 

 culoides, which I had culled during the eclipse when their petals 

 were closed, afterwards re-opened their flowers when put into water 

 and exposed to the sunbeam. 



I may be permitted to remark that shortly after the impact and 

 the umbra had made its appearance on the solar disc, I observed a 

 faint light on the left of the apex of the umbra ; it might be a de- 



