360 On the Solar Eclipse predicted by Thales. 



eclipse which happened at Edinburjih, Febrmry ISth, 1 737> 

 observes (Phil. Trans, vol. xl. p. T77). that "during the 

 ** appearance of the annnlus, the direct light of the sun was 

 " still verij considered l( ; luit the places thai weie shaded fiom 

 ^' his light, appeared gloomy:" — that " dav-hcht was not 

 ^'greatly obscured; appearing only so much dimmer than 

 *' usual, as that of the sun is, when seen through a gentle 

 ** mist in a fine nujrning in April or Mav." And, asa further 

 proof of the trifling alteration this phoenomenon made, 

 he observes, that " there was little notice taken of this 

 '* eclipse bv the populace in the country: and I cannot but 

 " add, that several gentlemen of very tvood credit, and not iti 

 " the least short-sighted, assure me, thai about the viiddle of 

 *' thiC annular appearance tlicy were vol able to discorer the 

 *^' moon upon the sinr, when they looked without a smoked 

 *' glass, or something equivalent." In another account like- 

 wise of this eclipse, in the satiie volume, by sir .lolin Clerk, 

 bart. it is observed that there " was 7/0 covsiderable darkue^^s; 

 *• but the ground was covered with a kind of dark-grceni>li 

 '^colour." And M. Le Monnicr (who came over from 

 France on purpose to observe the niinular eclipse of the sun, 

 which happened July 14th, 17-lS) savs, "that when be 

 " looked at the sun with his naked eyes, during the middle 

 *' of the eclipse, he could observe vothing 7ipon the sun, but 

 " saw the sun full, though faint in his light." (Phil. Trans, 

 vol. xlv. p. 588.) 



In the account also which ie niven, in the ]\Jemoires de 

 I'ylcad. Boy. des Sciences for 1 724, of the /o/oZ^ eclipse which 

 happened on the 2£d of May in that year, it is stated that, 

 at the inomcnt when the lust portion of the sun was covered 

 by the moon, " la clarte a diminue tout cCun coup ; de sorle 

 *' qu'oti a eii besoin de lumi^re pour compter a. la pendule : 

 *' on voyoit les personnes au grand air, mais on nc distinguoit 

 *' pas bien les visages a quel(]uc5 pas de loin." In another 

 account, in the same volume, it is stated, that the darkness 

 came on^^ dausuuinstavt ;" ni\(\ x\\?i\., after an interval of 

 two minutesand sixteen seconds," le soleil comineuca a repa- 

 *' roitre comwevn eclair, qui dissipa sur le champ les teiiebres 

 *' tfans lesquelles on etoit plonue." M. Desvionoles, like- 

 wise (in his ClirOTiologie de I'H/stoire Sai?ite,\'o\. ii. p. 253), 

 gives an extract of a letier i'rom M. Abauzit of Geneva, 

 who, at the close of his reniarks on the calculation of Pe- 

 tavius respecting this very eclipse, observes 5 " il ignon/it 

 " que le moindre raion, qui commence a pomdre, est asscz 

 •' fort pour dissiper les tencbres : commeje I' ai observe 'deux 



J'uis." 



