382 



Transactions. — A stronomy. 



in the accompanying diagram, showing the curves of dry and 

 wet bulb standards, recorded at every five minutes' interval 

 from 6.30 to 8.45 o'clock. 



Fah 



III. — The Prominences. 



Mr. Meeson's paper contains the following remarks : — " As 

 to the so-called red protuberances, I saw distinctly prominences, 

 but they, one and all, seemed to me intensely white or pearly in 

 colour — such as those described by Professor Airy in the eclipse 

 of 1851 — rather than red. 



" Perhaps my sense of colour was temporarily impaired by the 

 unwonted and unearthly hues which prevailed on everything at 

 the time. I could persuade myself, perhaps, that one or two of 

 the smaller prominences, situated on the eastward of D. in the 

 chart, were of a faint rose-colour, but not red. Whatever their 

 colour, and whatever their real nature — mountains, clouds, or 

 flames — they were exceedingly beautiful and wonderful ; but, as 

 they can be, and are now, studied at any time when the sun 

 can be seen, whether he be eclipsed or not — or rather, perhaps, 

 as the sun can be by modern astronomical contrivances so arti- 

 ficially eclipsed that the prominences are rendered visible — it is 

 very improbable that any observations of ours as to them can 

 have any scientific value. The differences in our impressions as 

 to the relative size and place of the prominences, arise probably 

 from the fact that our observations were not made precisely at 

 the same second of time. At the commencement of totality the 

 largest prominences visible were those on the lower eastern or 

 right limb ; and towards the close they were those on the upper 

 western, or left limb. During the passage of the moon across 

 the sun's face, the prominences near where the sun was last 

 visible diminished in size, while those directly opposite con- 

 siderably increased. In astronomical books these prominences 



