186 Total Eclipse of August 7, 18G9. 



or nearly a million of miles. For a time everything else 

 was forgotten, and we gazed, for eight or ten seconds with 

 astonishment akin to awe, at this magnificent spectacle. 

 No painting can represent it, and no pen can describe it. 

 It is one of those sights which must be seen to be appre- 

 ciated. But we soon realized that precious moments were 

 slipping away. The telescope was again brought in posi- 

 tion and the observations continued. While still gazing, 

 a ray of light suddenly flashed forth, and the total eclipse 

 of August 7 was over. 



The duration of totality, according to the chronograph 

 records, was two minutes and forty-two seconds. 



The accompanying drawing, prepared by Prof. David 

 Murray, from the combined observations and sketches of 

 all the observers, will give a general idea of the appear- 

 ance of the corona, and the red protuberances projecting 

 from the disk of the sun. 



The drawing represents the sun as seen through an in- 

 verting telescope. The line across the disk of the moon, 

 is the projection of the earth's equator. 



Owing to the difficulty of representing by any drawing 

 a phenomenon of this kind, no great degree of precision is 

 attainable. 



A sketch of the corona was made during the time of 

 totality by Mr. Bostwick, of Mattoon, and General Keifer, 

 of Spingfield, Ohio, and is presumed to be a pretty faithful 

 representation of the position and magnitude of the rays. 



Prof. David Murray, at my request, prepared a paper 

 on the physical phenomena, which is here appended. 



Physical Phenomena. 



"The peculiar phenomena which have attracted so 

 much attention in solar eclipses, are only visible during 

 the brief period of totality. This in the present case, only 



