SOLAR ECLIPSE, MAY 6, 1883. 101 



power of 44 (liaiiieter.s and a Held ol' view 54' (in declination) l)y -'.'57** (in riyiit aseensiim). Tliis 

 ina{>iiifyin<;' power ntilizestlie whole apertnre of the ohjecitivc. 



I i)iepaied a map of tlie planets and stars in the nei};'hl>orlio(i(l of tlic sun on May <>, wlii(^ii 

 was iiublislicd in Science No. 3, for February -3, 1883. I arranged my i)laii of observation so that 

 1 coidd make sweeps in right ascension, each sweep being about .54' wide in declination. To tiiis 

 end 1 memorized all the stars in each sweep iu order and in magnilndii. 



Some of the sweeps were longer than others, so that the ecliptic and its neighborh(jod siioiild 

 be covered without wasting time. In order that theeutire time of the totality nnght be available 

 lor tlie search, I did not observe the second and third contacts; and 1 did not observe the first 

 contact, as tiiis ol>servation would have made it necessary to take otf my /.one eye-i>iece and thus 

 to lose the adjustment for parallel and focus 1 had made on the night of May 5. 



I need not describe the mechanical arrixngements 1 had i)rt>vided for detern)ining the |)osition 

 of any object not on my star luaj), since these were not employed. Tlicy were, however, adequate 

 for the purpose. On May (i I began sweeping a few seconds after totality commenced, and swept 

 carefully and deliberately over the space marked on the accomi)anying map without finding any 

 new object. I am positive that uo star as bright as five and a half magnitude could have escaped 

 me. I saw all the sixth magnitude stars within this space except the three nearest the sun. I 

 saw uo seventh magnitude stars anywhere. 



The star U. M. (19'=, 477), in right a.scensiou 3'' n" 21", and declination + I'J'^ 11, was very 

 bright indeed, and uo star half or even a third as bright coidd have by any possibility escaped 

 observation. This star is of four and two-tenths magnitude ; the same as the brighter of the two 

 plauets reported by Professor Watson iu 1878. 



At the eclipse of 187S it was a question whether the planet Vidcioi of Le Verrier existed or 

 uo. At the eclipse of that year I searched for such a planet over a space of 320 square degrees 

 and found none. The Vulcan of Le Verrier should have been at least of the third magnitude. 

 My instrumental means were sufiicieut to have detected it had it existed. 



At the same eclipse Professor Watson reported the existence of two new aud much smaller 

 bodies which he saw with a 4-inch telescope with a magnifying power of 45. Professor Swift 

 also reported the existence of two different (aud uew) bodies. > 



At the present eclipse I looked for these with a maguifyiug power purposely chosen the same 

 as Professor Watson's, and with aii objective giving more than twice the light of a 4-inch. No 

 such new bodies existed within the space marked on the map. It is my opinion, therefore, that at 

 future eclipses it will not be necessary to devote an observer and a telescope to the further pros- 

 ecutiou of this search, and I must regard the fact of the nou-existeuce of Vulcan as definitively 

 settled by Dr. Palisa's observations aud my own. 



CONTACTS. 



I observed the fourth contact with an aperture of (i inches, power 57, at 4'' 0'" 34^8 of 

 chronometer 1536 Negus. Its correction to Caroline Island sidereal time was + 1'" 5"J».5; so 

 "hat the fourth contact occurred for me at 4'' 8"' 34'.3 Caroline sidereal time = 1'' 10" 43' .8 

 Caroline mean time. 



OBSERVATION OF THE UIFFRACTION-BANUS BEFORE AND AFTER THE TOTAL PHASE. 



I had a white tenttly stretched fiat on the ground a few feet south of my observatory, and 1 

 employed the two carpeuters of our party in observing the direction and the distance apart of the 

 bauds. 



