1869..] of August 18, 18Q8. 57 



such an occasion, was to repeat tlie famous sentence of Euskin, 

 ' Thia is not failure, but disaster ! ' Compared with the results 

 obtained by Mr. Warren De la Eue in Spain, in 1860, compared 

 with those secured by the German Expedition, such an issue as the 

 above is most humiliating. The plates were under-exposed, and 

 covered with spots, we are told, as though the possibility of guard- 

 ing against such contingencies was a thing undreamt of. This 

 expedition was sent out by the Eoyal Society, aided by Government, 

 and we fear very much that it is to the aid of the latter much of 

 the failure may be attributed. It is probable, in fact, that it is due 

 to red tape. A staff of men provided by Government might or 

 might not be fitted in all respects for the work ; but if the men 

 ' told off ' for the duty knew nothing of photography, it would be 

 against all jirecedent to imjDort a photographer from another de- 

 partment. If the men were selected from the Engineers, and they 

 were not familiar with photographic operations, it would be quite 

 inadmissible to introduce amongst them men from (say) the Artil- 

 lery, who were skilled j)hotographers. It is probable, from what 

 we can learn, that to a cause of this kind the failure in result was 

 due. Be this as it may, however, it appears tolerably clear that no 

 experienced photographer formed part of the expedition staff, or we 

 should not have heard of such puerile difiiculties as spots from con- 

 centrations of the silver solution. We have in this country several 

 photographers of high repute and great practical skill, who have 

 had experience in Eastern photography, and who have succeeded 

 amid the gravest difficulties. We refer to such men as Bedford, and 

 Frith, and Goode, Sm-ely it would have been possible to have 

 secured the services of some of these or other experienced photogra- 

 phers to whom the purely photographic operations should have 

 been confided, and who would have certainly secured immunity 

 from the disasters attending concentrated silver solutions, and pro- 

 bably also from the risk of under-exposure," 



2. The general Configxjeation of the Red Peotuberakces, 



On this subject an immense amount of information has been 

 accumulated. At Aden Dr. Weiss says that three protuberances 

 were visible during the echpse, without counting the red border 

 which at the commencement and at the end of the totality encircled 

 wide portions of the lunar limb, and which towards the end ap- 

 peared surrounded by a deep blue aureola shading off into the sky. 

 The first protuberance appeared very near the point where the last 

 ray of the sun disappeared. Its appearance was that of an agglo- 

 meration of protuberances very complicated in its details. The 

 second, the most interesting of aU, was located at the eastern 



