1870.] DOUGLAS— ON OBSERVATIONS OF THE SUN. 181 



some of the officers of the U.S. Coast Survey; by three divisions 

 of a party under charge of Dr. Morton, of Philadelphia, stationed 

 — one at Burlington, another at Otumwa, and the third at Mount 

 Pleasant, Iowa. Prof. Alexander and others took up a position 

 at Springfield, Illinois ; and the Harvard University sent their 

 observers to Selbyville, Kentucky. Many other colleges and 

 scientific bodies sent their representatives to these or other 

 stations along the line of totality. 



The general phenomena of the eclipse did not differ from 

 what had been observed on previous occasions. The darkness 

 was not so great that print of moderate size could not be read 

 during totality ; and it was not till totality had almost occurred 

 that the decrease in light became to the eye very manifest. 

 Prof. Eastman found the light during totality to be about 

 equal to that after sunset. The moon moved majestically and 

 calmly across the surface of the sun, till it had almost ex- 

 tinguished it : when, quickly, as if by an effort, it totally eclipsed 

 it. The shadow of the moon, as it rushed through the air, 

 and enveloped the earth in sudden darkness, struck observers 

 with more awe than perhaps any other of the many almost 

 perternatural appearances of the eclipse — an awe that was dissi- 

 pated only by the equally sudden return of light, as the sun 

 blazed forth from behind the jet-black orb of the moon. The 

 planets Mercury, Venus, and Saturn, and one or two stars of 

 the first magnitude, burst forth at the commencement of totality, 

 and were visible for a few seconds afterwards. The sky is 

 described (for, having been shut up in my photographic room, 

 I saw nothing, and speak, therefore, from hearsay) as presenting 

 a very unusual appearance. Immediately outside the sun, beyond 

 the corona, it was of an inky black ; yet, even here there were no 

 stars visible, only the planets ; while further towards the zenith, 

 and beyond it, to the east, the color changed to an indigo blue • 

 and all around the horizon, but particularly to the west, it was 

 of a bright orange. At the moment of totality, there shone forth 

 a halo of light from all sides of the dark moon ; but so much 

 more strongly from the equator than the poles, that it more 

 resembled a nimbus, lozenge shaped, with rays of unequal length, 

 than a regular crown of light. Some of the rays were over 1° in 

 length. Within the corona there aj^peared, on the eastern limb 

 of the sun, or rather moon, a rugged line of rosy red light, rising 

 in several places into larger masses. As the moon advanced and 



