1889. ] NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 156 
Stoneham, Maine, and the elegant series of light-colored spes- 
sartine garnets from Virginia, together with other rare and 
interesting gems. 
Pror. Davin P. Topp, of Amherst College, then read the 
paper announced for the evening, entitled 
RESULTS OF OBSERVATIONS ON THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 
JANUARY Isr, 1889. 
'( Abstract.) 
The clear skies nearly everywhere prevalent within the belt 
of total eclipse in California, and the large number of astrono- 
mers and others in the field, contribute to make this one of the 
most important eclipses ever observed. 
(1) Lye- Observations. 
Several hundred drawings of the solar corona were made, 
partly in response to instructions sent out by the National 
Academy, and partly to the Lick Observatory. The former I have 
embodied in a paper On Composite Coronagraphy, presented to 
the National Academy. Many drew the corona adjacent to 
the sun’s poles with a telescope; while others, following the 
instructions, and setting up an opaque disc about 50 feet from 
the eye, and large enough to shield the eye from the blinding 
radiance of the inner corona, sketched the very faint outlying 
streamers along the ecliptic to a distance of several millions of 
miles. The results of all this work were photographically in- 
corporated into the composite. The extreme outer equatorial 
corona is very weak in actinic effect, quite different from the 
inner corona; and it is very doubtful if it has ever been photo- 
graphed. Hye-observations are therefore very valuable. Speak- 
ing of the corona as a whole, it was larger, brighter, and more 
irregular than usual. It resembled quite strongly the corona 
of 1868 as drawn by Bullock, and that of 1878 as shown by the 
photographs in the Naval Observatory report. Thus the period- 
icity in figure, particularly in the outer corona, first suggested 
by Ranyard, appears to be verified. 
The shadow-bands were excessively faint, narrow, and close 
together. Prof. Upton endeavored to photograph them on a 
- white screen, but with only indifferent results. Fourteen replies 
to his circular requesting observations of them, report their velo- 
city variously; but the general direction of their motion was from 
northeast to southwest before totality. Their faintness or entire 
absence in California may be taken as evidence in favor of the 
