158 ASTRONOMY FOR 1889, 1890. 



opes. In order that the conclusiou may staud it is necessary to show 

 that all these " polar" beams are composed of rectiliuear rays. - - . 

 An importaut conclusion from [the photographic and photometric] 

 measures seems to be that it is impracticable to photograph the corona 

 in full sunshine with our present plates, and that a photographic search 

 for Vulcan is hopeless. 



The Smithsonian Institution has published a series of photographs 

 of the corona of this eclipse made by diftereut observers and reduced 

 for convenience to a uniform scale, and has also published a suggestive 

 paper by Prof. P. H, Bigelow tracing a close agreement between mag- 

 netic lines of force computed for the sun and the curves of the polar 

 filaments shown upon the Pickering photograph. 



Uclipse of the sun 1889, June 27. — An annular eclipse visible in the 

 southern part of Africa. Dr. Auwers and Dr. Gill obtained a number 

 of measures of the cusps with the Cape heliometer. 



Eclipse of the sun 1889, December 21-22. — Tliree in"incii)al points were 

 available as observing stations: the southwest corner of the island of 

 Trinidad totality lasting T" 46^; Cayenne on the coast of French 

 Guiana, totality 2"" 3"; and Cape Lado a ])oint on the western coast of 

 Africa just south of St. Paul de Loanda, totality 3"" 12*. Two expedi- 

 tions went out to Africa, one sent by the United States Government 

 under Prof. D. P. Todd, and provided with most elaborate apparatus, 

 and the other from the Eoyal Astronomical Society of England under 

 the direction of Mr. A. Taylor. Cloudy weather prevented both of these 

 parties from securing observations. Another party from the Royal 

 Astronomical Society under Father Perry, at the Salut Islands, was par- 

 tially successful as far as observations go, but resulted most disastrously 

 in the death of Father Perry from dysentery within a few days after 

 the eclipse. M. de la Baume Pliivinel was also at the Salut Islands 

 and secured a number of photographs. The Lick observatory party at 

 Cayenne, Messrs. Burnham, Schaeberle and Eock well, were successful; 

 securing good photographs. 



Eclipse of the sitn 1890, June 17. — The annular eclipse of June 17, 

 1890, was central over portions of Northern Africa and Southern Asia, 

 and was visible as a partial eclipse over the whole of Europe. In the 

 southern part of Italy three-fourths of the sun's disk was covered by 

 the moon. Observations partially successful were obtained by Profes- 

 sor Eicco at Palermo. At Canea, M. de la Baume Pluvinel secured 

 several photographs of the i)artial and annular phases, and also of the 

 spectrum of the annulus, the latter proving to be the same as the ordi- 

 nary solar spectrum. 



Eclipse of the sun 1890, December 11. —A total eclipse of the sun 

 occurred on December 11, 1890, the central line beings confined to the 

 ocean south of Australia. In consequence of the earth's globular 

 surface, the eclipse was annular at the beginning and end, and total 

 between 13*^ 5o™.3 and 16'' 20"'. 5 Greenwich mean time. In portions of 



