February 24, 192 1] 



NATURE 



835 



nation, and are placed in the British Museum. 

 The corresponding discoveries in the French zone 

 of occupation, further west, are summarised by 

 Capt. Ch. Picard, now director of the French 

 Archseolog-ical School at Athens. The finds in 



■•- - '.V4.»33u9 



t iG. 3.— Ruins at Hagia Sophia in l,emno<. From " The Annual of the British School 

 at Athens." 



both zones were of all periods. The most novel 

 illustrate the earlier periods from the Neolithic to 

 the early Iron age, revealing new distributions of 

 pottery styles, and types of primitive figurines, 



and raising a number of questions which can only 

 be solved by systematic excavation as soon as local 

 conditions allow. 



Mr. M. N. Tod publishes twenty-five Greek in- 

 scriptions from the same district, and Mr. A. M. 

 Woodward adds a note on the Byzantine 

 castle of Avret-Hissar (Gynaikokastro). 



Other war surveys are published by 

 Mr. F. W. G. Foat, who was in charge 

 of " educational work on topography and 

 archaeology " at the Y.M.C.A. rest 

 camps in ancient Doris, and on the 

 island of Lemnos by Mr. F. L. W. Sealy, 

 who appends also notes on birds and 

 fishes observed there. Mention should 

 also be made here of Mr. Hasluck's paper 

 on " The Rise of Modern Smyrna." 



Further afield, Mr. S. Casson, who was 

 for a while in charge of the Salonica 

 Museum, made good use of a flying visit 

 to the Caucasus and Western Turkestan 

 to describe an extensive series of pre- 

 historic mounds, and to throw fresh light 

 on Herodotus' account of the ancient 

 routes eastward from Scythia. 



Other papers, such as those on 

 the fictitious legend of " Saint 

 Gerasimos and the English Admiral " 

 and on "The Folklore of a Turkish 

 Labour Battalion," illustrate more special aspects 

 of research under war conditions, and also the 

 great variety of subjects which are studied by 

 members of the British School at Athens. 



The Annular Eclipse of April 8. 

 By Dr. A. C. D. Crommelin. 



THE occurrence of a central solar eclipse within 

 the limits of the British Isles is a somewhat 

 rare event. On the average, one total eclipse is 

 visible here in seventy years, and one annular 

 eclipse in about sixty years. It is, therefore, note- 

 worthy that the decade now commencing supplies 

 examples of both. There has been no British 

 total solar eclipse since 1724, the interval being 

 about three times the average ; the last annular 

 eclipse was in 1858. After the present decade 

 there will be totalities in 1999 and 2090, and 

 annularity in 2093. 



The central line on April 8 passes across South 

 Uist, just misses Cape Wrath, and then runs a 

 few miles north-west of the Shetlands. The south 

 limit of annularity enters Scotland near Ardna- 

 murchan Point, and runs nearly parallel to the 

 Caledonian Canal, emerging near Wick. Thus prac- 

 tically the whole of the counties of Ross and 

 Cromarty, Sutherland and Caithness, and a corner 

 of Inverness, together with the Outer Hebrides, 

 .Skye, and the Orkneys and .Shetlands, will enjoy 

 the annular phase. 



The eclipse occurs about 9 a.m., the sun's alti- 

 tude being about 23°; the duration of annularity 

 is III sec, the width of the annuhis of sun- 

 NO. 2678, VOL. 106] 



fight being 26". This implies that 1/19 of the 

 sun's disc will remain uncovered; in other words, 

 the illumination will exceed normal sunshine on 

 the planet Jupiter. Remembering what a re- 

 splendent object Jupiter appears in the night sky, 

 it will be seen that there will be nothing approach- 

 ing darkness. Venus will doubtless be readily 

 visible, about 20° east of the sun ; it will be a 

 slender crescent, inferior conjunction occurring a 

 fortnight later. The only other object that may 

 possibly be visible is Vega, which will be high in 

 the west, three hours past the meridian. 



Dr. J. K. Fotheringham, who has made a 

 special study of the records of ancient eclipses, 

 intends to examine the question of its visibility, 

 as it is important to know what degree of solar 

 obscuration is implied by the frequently recurring 

 phrase, "Stars were visible." It is used, for 

 example, by Thucydides with reference to an 

 eclipse which was not total anywhere. 



As regards useful observations that may be 

 made in the coming eclipse, the exact times of 

 the beginning and end of annularity can be accu- 

 ratelv noted, especially by the method of projec- 

 tion upon a white screen ; they serve to correct 

 the position of the moon ; those who cannot deter- 



