40 



Sir J. Norman Lockyer. 



1474 K, which is the brightest of the rings seen, can be traced 

 completely round the limb, and while in some parts it is very feeble, 

 in others it is bright enongh to show the brightest projections of the 

 inner corona as photographed with short exposures with the 

 coronagraph. The other rings at 3987 and 4231 can also be traced 

 completely round the limb, but they are fainter on the average and 

 of much more uniform intensity than 1474 K. This latter fact suggests 

 that the additional rings are produced by a substance which is not 

 the same as that to which 1474 K corresponds. 



It is interesting to note that the three rings photographed in 1898 

 were also the most conspicuous in the coronas of 1893 and 1896 as 

 determined by the use of prismatic cameras. The following table 

 gives a comparison of the results obtained in the three eclipses, the 

 wave-lengths for 1898 of course being only provisional. 



3. Results regarding the Corona. 



I looked forward to the corona this year with the greatest interest on 

 account of the high temperature of the sun as judged by the fact that 

 scarcely any iron lines have been recorded as most widened in the 

 spectrum of sun spots since the end of 1892 ; that is, chemically, the 

 maximum sun-spot conditions have been retained since 1893. Hence 

 I was not astonished to see several large spots on the sun on the days 

 preceding the eclipse. 



1 pointed out in 1878, a year of minimum, that the corona of that 

 year was vastly different from that of 1871, a year of maximum ; not 

 only was it very much dimmer, but its spectrum was continuous ; 

 there were practically no bright lines, while long equatorial extensions 

 were seen. 



Normally we should have expected an approach to the 1878 

 conditions this year. But both the photographs and eye observations 

 show that the only minimum appearance noticeable was the exquisite 

 tracery near the sun's poles. 



The violent magnetic storm and bright aurora on March 15 and 16, 



