SEVFFARTH ON THE THEORY OF THE MOON'S MOTIONS. 463 



total eclipse of the sun was observed ("eclipsis solis facta est, 

 ut nox crederetur, neque sine luminibus accensis quidquam agi 

 [legi ?] posset.") Scaliger. Petavius, and Calvisius, computed 

 the aforementioned eclipse, but the obscuration of the sun in 

 Rome amounted, on the southern part of the sun, to 10 inches 

 only. Since the SI, however, lay (p. 429) nearly 4 3S' west of 

 the sun, the eclipse must have been total, or nearly total, in Rome. 

 This is a clear confirmation of the Table, p. 429. Struyk (Ru- 

 perti's Magaz. i. 353) maintains that, two years later, a similar 

 eclipse occurred, which, according to ancient reports, happened a 

 short time after the Olympian games, a.d, 239. Hence the latter 

 eclipse would have been that of a.d. 239, Aug. 16, 2h., 13 12 , or 

 rather 9 20' E., which eclipse was a partial one. 



52. © +291, May 15th, 2h. 30m. SI 0° W., Rome, curve 30 - 

 24 . Idatius (Scaliger's Thesaur. p. 30) reports that in the 7th 

 year of Diocletian, coss. Tiberianus and Cassius Dio, a.d. 291, 

 "tenebrae fuerunt inter diem." According to Petavius, the obscu- 

 ration of the sun amounted to S inches south. The longitude 

 of SI being shorter by 2° 39', the obscuration was greater in 

 Rome. 



53. J) +303, Sept. nth, yh. 30m., SI 5 E., Rome. Scaliger 

 (Emend, temp., Proleg. xviii. ed. Col. 1629) cites a Martyrolo- 

 gium, according to which Bishop Felix suffered martyrdom in 

 the 19th year of Diocletian, which was, according to Eusebius 

 (Chron. ad 2319), a.d. 303; and in the following night a total 

 eclipse of the moon happened (et ductus est ad passionis locum, 

 cum etiam ipsa luna in sanguinem conversa est, die iii. Kal. Sep- 

 tembres). Calvisius had reference to the eclipse a.d. 304, Aug. 

 31, 9h., SI 3°W. (—2° 37'), which was not total, but nearly coin- 

 cided with iii. Kal. Sept. Scaliger alluded to the eclipse a.d. 

 301, Nov. 3d, 2h. 45m. a.m., SI 9 W. ; but the moon scarcely 

 touched the shadow of the earth, and iii. Kal. Sept. is not Nov. 

 3d. The eclipse a.d. 303, Sept. 11, >jh. 30m., SI 5 E., amounted, 

 according to the present theory of the moon, to 11 3^ inches only, 

 and hence the lunar orb could not " assume the hue of blood" ; 

 but, according to our Table (p. 429), the SI stood distant from the 

 centre of the shadow of the earth by two degrees only. Accord- 

 ingly, this eclipse was total indeed. For the rest, instead of "iii. 

 Kal. Sept.," read iii. Id. Sept. 



