THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF JUNE 8, 1918 529 



There was a very large number of small lines in the yellow and 

 yellow-green especially. A faint continuous spectrum served as a 

 background." 



THE SHADOW BANDS 



Mrs. Stella Meek Whisler, of Illinois College, Jacksonville, Illi- 

 nois, observed this phenomenon by spreading upon the ground at 

 the northwest corner of the shack a large piece of white oilcloth 

 (about ten feet square). She reports as follows: "The shadow 

 bands were very distinct and plainly visible just before and after 

 the period of totality. They were black and white, each about one 

 inch to one and one-fourth inches in width and three to four inches 

 apart, and traveled in the direction of northwest and southeast, or 

 parallel to the path of the shadow. Their direction of orientation 

 was, northeast and southwest. They appeared by the hundreds and 

 passed very rapidly, resembling ripples or waves on the water. They 

 passed so rapidly I could not even guess at the number per second. 

 The phenomenon of the shadow bands was one of the many beauti- 

 ful and interesting sights observed during the eclipse. In both in- 

 stances they passed in the same direction and at the same angle. 

 They lasted for two or three seconds on each occurrence." 



REPORT OF SHADOW BANDS IN THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 



MAY 28, 1900 



It is interesting to compare the above observations of the shadow 

 bands with similar reports made by members of Prof. C. A. Young's 

 party at Wadesboro, North Carolina, May 28, 1900. I quote Astro- 

 physical Journal, Vol. 12, June-December, 1900: "These were sat- 

 isfactorily observed by Mr. Reilly, Mr. Erdman and Mr. Meier upon 

 two tent-flies, one inclined and nearly facing the eclipsed sun, the 

 other lying upon the ground. The bands first appeared about a min- 

 ute and a half before totality, lying in a plane nearly tangent to the 

 uneclipsed arc of the sun's limb, about two inches wide, but wavy 

 and irregular, separated by an interval of from five to seven inches 

 and moving with a speed of about five or six miles an hour in the 

 direction from southwest to northeast. As totality approached, the 

 interval between the bands diminished, till they were only an inch 

 or two apart, and the speed of their apparent motion increased 

 enormously to the velocity of an express train. After totality, they 

 were more irregular, close together, with no decided progressive 

 motion but simply quivering or oscillating. They lasted about a 

 minute and a half before fading out." 



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