THE SUN S TRUE ATMOSPHERE. 107 



uneclipsed is concerned, the answer to these questions 

 must be negative ; or, rather, it must be answered that 

 our only hope of meeting the difficulty consists in 

 increasing the size of the telescopes with which the 

 sun is spectroscopically studied. And inasmuch as 

 Dr. Huggins is preparing to apply the powers of a much 

 larger telescope than either Mr. Lockyer s or Fr. 

 Secchi s, we may possibly still hope to hear that the 

 relatively shallow atmosphere can be studied when 

 the sun is not eclipsed. For we may now speak 

 of the existence of this atmosphere as a demonstrated 

 fact. The difficulty which seemed to present insuper 

 able obstacles to the observers who study the uneclipsed 

 sun, has been overcome by the ingenuity of one of the 

 most skilful of those very observers Professor Young, 

 of America when studying the solar eclipse of last 

 December. 



If during any total eclipse of the sun, the moon just 

 concealed the whole of the sun s disc (as may well 

 happen), and if our satellite were only complaisant 

 enough to stay still for a few minutes in such a position, 

 so that one of these exact total eclipses could be 

 studied as readily as one of greater extent (which never 

 can happen), then the shallow atmosphere I have been 

 speaking of could be recognised. The difficulty above 

 considered would no longer exist. For the ring of 

 light which actually hides the shallow atmosphere when 

 the sun is not eclipsed, is an extension of the bright 

 rim of the disc outwards : if the disc is completely 

 hidden, there is no bright rim to be extended, and any- 



