Total Eclipse of August 7, 1869. 189 



extended through two minutes and forty-two seconds. 

 The difficulty of observing them lies in this exceeding 

 brevity, and in the fact, that no matter how much the ob- 

 server may have studied the experiences of others, the 

 phenomena come upon him as a complete surprise. The 

 moment the last ray of light disappears with the extin- 

 guishment of Bailey's beads, there bursts upon him a 

 vision so marvelously beautiful, so startling by its novelty, 

 that his self-possession and self-control desert him, and 

 leaves him for an instant a helpless gazer. As soon as he 

 can collect his thoughts and tries to marshal them into 

 order, he will find especially two phenomena of notable 

 interest: 



1. The Corona. 



" In immediate contact with the solar disk it appears as 

 a clear silvery light, as bright as the brightest part of an 

 aurora, and somewhat resembling it in consistency. Far- 

 ther out it appears streaked with pencils radiating in the 

 direction of the centre. These rays are more especially 

 noticeable at five points of the circumference, two of them 

 pointing upwards and outwards, and three having a gene- 

 ral downward direction. These prongs could be traced 

 through a distance, even exceeding the diameter of the 

 sun, and near one of them was visible a curved mass of 

 light, in shape resembling the petal of a flower. On the 

 upper edge of the disk was plainly seen an arch of light, 

 parallel with the edge, and within the boundary of the 

 corona. 



" It should be stated, that this phenomenon of the corona 

 is best observed with the naked eye, and cannot be included 

 within the field of an ordinary telescope. 



" The commonly received explanation of the corona, has 

 attributed it to an atmosphere surrounding the sun, which 



