386 Royal Astronomical Society. 
II. “Observation of the Time of the Termination of the Solar 
Eclipse of July 8, 1842.” By Arthur Utting, Esq. Communicated 
by E. Riddle, Esq.—See Monthly Notices, vol. v. p. 208. 
III. ‘‘ Some Remarks on the Total Eclipse of the Sun on July 8th, 
1842.” By Francis Baily; Esq., Vice-President of the Society. 
It is well known to many members of this Society that I pro- 
posed to proceed to the Continent, during the last summer, for the 
express purpose of observing the total eclipse of the sun which was 
to take place on the morning of July the 8th, civil reckoning, This 
object has been accomplished ; and I flatter myself that an account 
of that rare phenomenon, by an eye-witness, may be acceptable to 
this meeting. A statement of the principal observations that I 
made was communicated by me to one of the Vice-Presidents of 
this Society, in a letter written at Milan within 48 hours after the 
eclipse, whilst the circumstances were still fresh in my memory ; 
and they do not differ from those that I am now about to relate 
more in detail, and which J am desirous here to place on record. 
A total eclipse of the sun, in any particular portion of the globe, 
is an event of very rare occurrence, since only four or five of these 
remarkable phenomena are recorded as having been seen in Europe 
during the last century; to which we may add another that was 
fortunately seen at sea, by Don Ulioa. But the accounts of these 
several eclipses are by no means satisfactory, since they are dis- 
cordant in many particulars; which probably has arisen not only 
from the sudden and unexpected appearances that occurred, but also 
from the loose description that has been given of them, either by the 
observers themselves or by those who drew up the accounts, and 
perhaps did not fully comprehend the intention and meaning of the 
authors. The difficulty also is very much increased from the want 
of drawings to represent the exact appearances seen, which are 
always more readily understood by this method than by any verbal 
description. 
During the present century another eclipse of this kind has taken 
place in the United States of America, which was observed by Mr. 
Ferrer ; and a minute account of the same, together with a drawing 
of its appearance, has been published in the sixth volume of the 
Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. These are the 
only cases of interest that are on record since the invention of the 
telescope, within which period we must necessarily limit our at- 
tempt to acquire any useful information relative to this remarkable 
phenomenon. But I must proceed with my narrative. 
My original intention was to have taken up my station, for ob- 
serving the eclipse, at Digne, in the south of France; and I had pro- 
ceeded on my way thither till I arrived near Lyons, when I found 
that I had a few days to spare; and as I had proposed to visit 
Venice before my return home, I altered my route and resolved to 
proceed in an easterly direction, along the line of the moon’s sha- 
dow, till the day before the eclipse, when I proposed to halt at the 
most convenient place that might offer. I therefore turned off 
towards Chambery, and crossing the Alps at Mount Cenis, passed 
