ASTRONOMY. 393 



Mr. Thackeray has also considered the observations of the moon's 

 diameter. In this case the personal equation is almost insensible, and 

 tlie correction to the Nautical Almanac is unimportant. 



One result of the preceding- discussion is to show that it would be 

 proper in reducinj^' incomplete observations of the sun (observations of 

 one limb only) not to adopt a uniform value for the diameter, but to 

 employ the observer's own value. {Bull. Astron., August, 1885.) 



List of eclipses. — Dr. Theodore von Oi)polzer, of Vienna, announces 

 the early publication of a very extended list of the <lates of solar and 

 lunar eclipses which has been prepared under his direction. There will 

 be eight thousand of the former and more than five thousand of the latter 

 class of phenomena, and all included between the years 1207 B. c. and 

 21C1 A. D. In publishing the hours of the day at which the eclipses 

 will occur, Dr. Oppolzer will adopt the new reckoning of astronomical 

 time recommended by the International Prime Meridian Conference at 

 Washington in 1884, thus making this i^ublicatiou the first astronomical 

 work of importance in which this method of counting the hours of the 

 day is adopted. 



Eclipse of the sun, 18G9, August 7. — The rejjort of observations of the 

 total eclipse of the sun of August 7, 1861), made by parties under the 

 direction of Prof. J. H. C. Coffin, superintendent of the American Ephe- 

 meris and Kautical Almanac, has been published during the year, the 

 delay in the appearance of the volume being due to the illness of Pro- 

 fessor Coffin. The results of the work of Professors Young, Gould, Pick- 

 ering, Morton, and others have already been known through other chan- 

 nels, but many valuable details are now given for the first time. Ten 

 plates accompany the work, among them some excellent engravings 

 from the photographs at totality. 



Eclipse of the sun, 1885, March 16. — This was visible as a partial eclipse 

 throughout the United States, and as an " annular " eclipse in the north- 

 western part; the annulusdescribingapath about 75 miles wide, across 

 Montana, Idaho, and the northwestern part of California. 



A circular was sent out by the Superintendent of the Naval Observa- 

 tory stating that time signals would be sent to observers along this line, 

 and requesting that observations of the beginning and ending of the 

 eclipse and of the annular phase should be transmitted to the observa- 

 tory. Reports were received from sixteen observers, and many of these 

 reports, together with an account of observations made at the Naval 

 Observatory, embracing observations of contact, observations made with 

 the transit instrument and transit circle, and results from x)hotographs 

 made with the transit of Venus photo-heliograph, are published as Ap- 

 endix ii to the Washington observations for 1882. 



Observations of contact were made by Professor Peters at Clinton, 

 aTid photogra])hs were taken at the Chicago and Lick Observatories. 

 Mr. Charles H. Rockwell observed the annular phase from Delta, Cal. 



