THE sun's spots. 75 



Suii' disk) have always been accompanied by numerous fao 

 ulsB, i am not much disposed to ascribe to nucleoid spots those 



360 A.D. In all the eastern provinces of the Roman empire, " per 

 Eoos tractus," there was obscurity from early dawn till noon ; " Ca- 

 ligo a primo aurorae exortu adusque meridiem," Ammian. MarcelL, 

 XX., 3 ; but the- stars continued to shine : consequently, there could 

 not have been any shower of ashes, nor, from the long duration of 

 the phenomenon, could it be ascribed to the action of a total eclipse 

 of the Sun, to which the historian refers it. " Cum lux coelestis ope- 

 riretur, e mundi conspectu penitus luce abrepta, defecisse diutius so« 

 lem pavidae mentes hominura aestimabant : primo attenuatum in luuffi 

 coruiculantis efBgiem, deinde in speciem auctum semenstrem, post- 

 eaque in integrum restitutum. Quod alias non evenit ita perspicue, 

 nisi cum post insequales cursus intermenstruum lunee ad idem revo 

 catur." " When the light of heaven, suddenly and wholly concealed, 

 was hidden from the world, trembling men thought the Sun had left 

 them for a very long time; at first it assumed the form of a horned 

 moon, then increased to half its proper size, and was finally restored 

 to its integrity. But it did not appear so bright initil, after all ir- 

 regular motions were over, it returned." This description entirely 

 corresponds with a true eclipse of the Sun; but how are we to ex- 

 plain its long duration, and the " caligo" experienced in all the prov 

 inces of the East ? 



109 A.D. When Alaric appeared before Rome, there was so great a 

 darkness that the stars were seen by day. — Schuurrer, Chronik da 

 Seucken, th. i., p. 1]3. 



536. Justinianus I. Cassar imperavit aunos triginta-octo (727 to 565). 

 Anno imperii nono deliquium lucis passus est Sol, quod annum inte- 

 grum et duos amplius menses duravit, adeo ut parum admodum de 

 luce ipsius appareret ; dixeruntque homines Soli aliquid accidisse, 

 quod nunquam ab eo recederet." "In the ninth year of the reign 

 of Justinian I., who reigned thirty-eight years, the Sun suffered an 

 eclipse, which lasted a whole year and two months, so that very little 

 of his light was seen; men said that something had clung to the Sun, 

 from which it would never be able to disentangle itself." — Gregoriua 

 Abu'l-Faragius, Supplementvm Historice Dyiiastiarnm, ed. Edw. Po- 

 cock, 1663, p. 94. This phenomenon appears to have been very sim- 

 ilar to one observed in 1783, which, although it has received a name 

 (Hohenrauch),* has in many cases not been satisfactorily explained. 



567 A.D. " Justinus II. annos 13 imperavit (565-578). Anno imperii 

 ipsius secundo apparuit in coelo ignis flammans juxta polum arcticum, 

 qui annum integrum permansit; obtexeruntque tenebraj mundum ab 

 hora diei nona noctem usque, adeo ut nemo quicquam videret ; de- 

 ciditque ex aere quoddam pulveri minuto et cineri simile." "In 

 the second year of the reign of Justinian II., who reigned thirteen 

 years, there appeared a flame of fire in the heavens, near the North 

 Pole, and it remained there for a whole year; darkness was cast over 

 the world from three o'clock until night, so that nothing could be 

 seen ; and something resembling dust and ashes fell down from tha 

 sky." — Abu'l-Farag., 1. c, p. 95. Could this phenomenon have con 

 tinned lor a whole year like a perpetual northern light (magnetic 

 slorm), and been succeeded by darkness apd shr<wers of meteoric 

 dust? 



* A kind wf thick, yellowish fog, comnioo in North Germany. 



