(87) 
contact until 3 quarters of an hour after totality. The apparatus 
worked satisfactorily, but the clouds rendered its results very varia- 
ble. Nothing has been obtained by means of the photometer, as the 
intensity of light of the corona weakened by the clouds remained 
below the minimum that could be measured with the apparatus. 
Finally the meteorological and the magnetical observations have partly 
succeeded. Snadow-bands were not observed. 
The totality began a few seconds earlier than was expected; 
but, as had been agreed upon, the observers were warned by a 
signal from the ship of one of the English observing parties, which 
anchored west of the Dutch eclipse station. Also the duration of 
the totality differed from the value predicted, it lasted 6 m. 22 see. 
i.e. 10 seconds less than according to the Nautical Almanac. During 
the totality it was not very dark, which possibly was partly caused by 
the reflection of light from the clouds. Mercury, Venus, Aldebaran 
and some stars of Perseus were visible. 
The Dutch observers would not have obtained better results if 
they had selected another place on “Sumatra’s West coast’ near 
the central line for their observing station. At different points near 
the coast the conditions were almost the same as those at Karang 
Sago, and at Solok, situated at a considerable height on the railway to 
the interior, they were still more unfavourable ; there the phenomenon 
was rendered entirely invisible by thick clouds. 
On the other hand at Fort de Kock also in the interior, but 
near the northern limit of totality, the weather was very bright. 
There the diffraction grating of ROWLAND of the Dutch expedition, 
with which a spectrograph had been constructed, was mounted and 
given in charge of Mr. KeRrKHOF Captain Indian army, who had 
first practised with this instrument at Karang Sago. As has been 
said before, the intention was to study in this way more closely 
the reversing of the FRAUNHOFER-lines at the beginning and 
the end of totality, the so-called flash. But unhappily the 
inaccuracy in the prediction of the phenomenon proved fatal in 
this case. While everything had been arranged to photograph one 
long lasting flash the phenomenon appeared to be different: there was a 
double flash interrupted by some moments of real totality. However at 
Fort de Kock a good series of corona-drawings has been made by 
pupils of the trainingschool for native teachers. 
It is much to be regretted that everywhere the weather has been 
so unfavourable to the observations of this very interesting eclipse. 
Otherwise we might have expected that very important results 
would have been obtained. For, to mention only the Dutch expedition, 
6* 
