568 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The Total Eclipse at Viziadrn!!;.— Tbe 



following Tivid description of the recent to- 

 tal eclipse of the sun appeared in the Times 

 of India: "But high overhead was a sight 

 it was worth a journey of thousands of miles 

 to see. In the midst of the dull blue sky 

 stood out the inky blackness of the moon 

 with its slightly ragged edge, a silhouette 

 more sharply defined than the mind can con- 

 ceive. Encircling the moon was the corona, 

 a mass of the purest and most brilliant in- 

 candescence, thin in the upper portions, and 

 much broader below. On the lower left 

 corner a blazing blood-red prominence cast a 

 ray of beautiful color into the dazzling white- 

 ness ; a smaller and less conspicuous spot 

 appeared upon the opposite quadrant. At 

 the second of totality four extensions leaped 

 from the corona into the surrounding dark- 

 ness, feathery, ethereal streams of the most 

 exquisite pearly luminosity. To the south- 

 ward Yenus shone with the brilliance of a 

 tropical night ; below her, Mars less clearly, 

 and three stars of lesser magnitude were 

 barely visible. The darkness, owing to the 

 great clearness of the atmosphere, was not 

 intense. Newspaper print could be easily 

 read, or the position of the second hands of 

 a watch noted without the assistance of a 

 lantern. Still the landscape presented an 

 unnatural appearance, and irresistibly sug- 

 gested a world seen through a colored glass. 

 Away to the westward the horizon was a 

 dull gray purple, shading into a delicate vio- 

 let, and then to a lovely subtle yellow like 

 the tinge of an English winter sunset; to 

 the east the shadow of the moon seemed to 

 envelop the earth like an angry rain cloud. 

 There were few opportunities of observing 

 the effects of the eclipse upon the animal 

 world. A number of crows circled restlessly 

 over the trees which fringe the little sandy 

 bay ; a big yellow snake half crawled out of 

 his hole near the wall, looked round, and 

 withdrew. Other sign of animal life there 

 was none." 



The Field Colnmbian Mnsenm.— The 



work of the Field Columbian Museum, Chi- 

 cago, during the year covered by its last an- 

 nual report, included two courses of eight 

 lectures each, in one of which distinguished 

 specialists were represented, while the other 

 was given entirely by the curators of the 



museum ; and the pubhcation of seven works 

 of research (in addition to the annual report) 

 of great value. The library contains 8,062 

 books and 7,680 pamphlets. A large space 

 in the report is occupied with the description 

 of the accessions to the various departments 

 of the museum, which are catalogued in an- 

 other part of the book. All the agencies 

 employed have given excellent returns, and 

 all the departments seem to have shared in 

 the results. The collection obtained by the 

 African expedition of Mr. Elliott (to the Ma- 

 sai country) is very valuable, " probaljly the 

 most important, certainly so as regards quad- 

 rupeds, ever brought out of any country by 

 one expedition " ; and consists of about two 

 hundred animal skins, three hundred skins 

 of birds, numerous reptiles, and about half a 

 barrel of fishes, obtained on the coast and at 

 Aden. Skeletons of every species, in certain 

 cases two or three of the same species, were 

 preserved, and casts of heads and parts of 

 bodies showing the muscles of the large 

 animals were made. Specimens forming a 

 fair representation of the materials in use 

 among the tribes were obtained, with photo- 

 graphic negatives of the people, scenery, and 

 animals. Other expeditions were made by 

 Messrs. G. A. Dorsey and E. Allen among the 

 Indians of the far West ; Mr. 0. C. Farring- 

 ton to the caves of Kentucky ; Mr. C. F. Mills- 

 paugh for forestry specimens ; and the assist- 

 ant curator of ornithology for southern birds. 



The Climate of Alaska, — An article by 

 General A. W. Greely on climatic conditions 

 in Alaska, in The National Geographic Mag- 

 azine, is authority for the following state- 

 ments : Almost everywhere in Alaska the 

 climate changes decidedly within a hun- 

 dred miles of the mainland coast and be- 

 comes continental in its characteristics. Rain 

 and snow are less frequent, the smnmers are 

 longer and warmer as we go inland, the 

 skies less cloudy, and the winters marked 

 with excessive cold. Freezing weather, usu- 

 ally below zero, continues for months, and 

 even in July, with midday temperatures of 

 70' to 80", it is an almost daily occurrence 

 for the temperature to faU during the night 

 to the neighborhood of the freezing point. 

 Sitka is a typical coast station for southern 

 Alaska. In forty-five years its temperature 

 has varied between 88° and — 4°. The cold- 



