Royal Institution. 511 



had used his powerful personal influence in inducing persons to make 

 observations at numerous stations in the south of France ; and had 

 afterwards collected and compared the observations. Besides these 

 French observations, and the observations made by astronomers 

 officially located in the path of the shadow, we have the observations 

 of M. Schumacher, who went to Vienna, of MM. Otto Struve and 

 Schidlowsky at Lipetsk (the former of whom was sent expressly by 

 the Russian government), of Mr. Baily, who went to Pavia, and of 

 the Lecturer himself, who went to the Superga (near Turin). 



It appears that, with M. Arago's telescope, the whole circum- 

 ference of the moon was visible when the moon had entered on only 

 about two-thirds of the sun's diameter. Whatever may be the cause 

 of this unusual appearance, it seems to require the use of a telescope 

 with a small number of glasses in the highest state of polish. 



As the totality approached, a strange fluctuation of light was seen 

 by M. Arago and others upon the walls and the ground, so striking 

 that in some places children ran after it and tried to catch it with 

 their hands. 



Of the awful eflfect of the totality, and of the suddenness with 

 which it came on, it is difficult to give an idea. The Lecturer cited 

 an expression from Dr. Stukely's account of the total eclipse of 1744, 

 observed on a cloudy day, " that the darkness came dropping like a 

 mantle :" and compared it with his own, in similar weather, " that; 

 the clouds seemed to be descending." But all agree in the descrip- 

 tion of livid countenances, indistinct and sometimes invisible horizon, 

 and general horror of appearance. It is well that we are enabled, 

 by means of instances collected by M. Arago, to show that these are 

 not simply the inventions of active human imaginations. In one 

 case, a half-starved dog, who was voraciously devouring some food, 

 dropped it from his mouth when the darkness came on. In another, 

 a swarm of ants, who were busily carrying their burdens, stopped 

 when the darkness came on, and remained motionless till the light 

 reappeared. In another, a herd of oxen, as soon as the totality was 

 formed, collected themselves into a circle and stood with their horns 

 outwards. Some plants (as the convolvulus and silk-tree acacia) 

 closed their leaves. 



The darkness at Venice was so great that the smoke of the steam- 

 boats could not be seen. In several places, birds flew against 

 houses, &c. Where the sky was clear, several stars were seen. In 

 several places a reddish light was seen near the horizon. A heavy 

 dew was formed at Perpignan. 



The Lecturer cited an instance which had been related to him by 

 M. Arago, in which the captain of a French ship had beforehand 

 arranged in the most careful way the observations to be made : but, 

 when tlie darkness came on, discipline of every kind failed, every 

 person's attention being irresistibly attracted to tlie striking appear- 

 ances of the moment, and some of the most critical observations were 

 thus lost. 



The most remarkable phenomenon observed in all preceding tota 

 eclipses, and seen equally in this, is the ring of light surrounding 



