1915] on the Total Solar Eclipse of 1914 361 



arc the diagonal was pushed back, the slotted shield removed, and the 

 exposure was continued on the corona, none of the optical parts for 

 the formation of the image having been disturbed in the meanwhile. 

 All the operations necessary for photographing the arc spectrum took 

 about 20 seconds. 



Drills commenced on August 17, and we were assisted by seven 

 students of the Technical School, under the direction of Herr 

 Askling, the master of mechanical science. Four of these students 

 were trained to make a composite drawing of the corona, on graduated 

 disks, each confining his attention to one quadrant. Thev practised 

 on a drawing of the corona of 1001. The result was a very good 

 picture of the chief details of the corona as visible to the naked 

 eye. The photographs, however, taken with the coronagraphs of 

 shorter focal length show a greater extension than was visible to 

 the eye. 



On the evening of August 20 the wind shifted to the S.E., and 

 brought with it a perfectly clear sky, though clouds appeared about 

 an hour after the eclipse was over. A considerable number of 

 spectators assembled in the field, many of whom watched the 

 progress of the partial phase through dark glasses. About 20 

 minutes before totality came the well-known eclipse wind, quite a 

 chilly breeze from the S.E. The total drop of temperature was 

 7 '4° F. At 10 minutes before totality, as indicated by the cusps 

 on the ground-glass screen. Father O'Connor blew three Y)lasts on a 

 whistle. The observers and their assistants stood to their stations, 

 the clocks were wound np, and the lamps were lit. At this time 

 the illumination of the distant monn tains to the north was weirdly 

 beautiful. At 5 minutes before totality, at the signal of two blasts 

 on the whistle, the slides were drawn, and silence was called. At 

 10 seconds nominally, but in reality at 12 seconds before totality, 

 a single blast was the warning for exposures on the " flash " spectrum. 

 At the signal " Go !" when totality was reached, Father O'Connor 

 pulled a cord, which released the mechanism of the ecHpse clock. 

 The experience of the sight of a magnificent' corona in a perfectly 

 pure sky was most impressive and enthralling. On the west of the 

 eclipsed sun was a long fish-tail streamer, while on the east were three 

 bright winged streamers, a very bright one N.E., a longer though 

 less bright one S.E., and a fainter bayonet-like streamer placed 

 almost equatorially. In the X.W. blazed the planet Mercury, while 

 Yenus was shining brightly in the E. sky. 



The general form of the corona of 1914 was rather of the 

 *' minimum " than of any other type. The open spaces at the poles, 

 full of beautiful rays, and the long fish-tail streamer on the ^Y. side, 

 are indicative of this type. But on the E. side it approximates to the 

 " intermediate " type, the spreading of the streamers being a character- 

 istic feature. It is interesting from the fact that, occurring at a time 

 when the sun-spot curve was rising after a protracted minimum, 



