IO LIGHT SCIENCE FOR LEISURE HOURS. 



the Council were compelled to close their delibera- 

 tions, as they could see neither to read nor write. 

 ( In many places people fell prostrate on the ground, 

 and prayed with earnestness, imagining that the 

 Day of Judgment was come. From the tops of 

 the Swiss mountains as many stars were seen as at 

 the time of full moon. A peculiar colour overspread 

 the sky, resembling neither the darkness of night 

 nor the mixed colours of the twilight sky. Even 

 those who were prepared for the spectacle were ap- 

 palled by the solemn gloom which fell upon the face 

 of nature.' 



Halley speaks in similar terms of the last total 

 eclipse which was visible in London. It took place in 

 the year 1715. ' I forbear,' says Halley, * to mention 

 the chill and damp which attended the darkness of this 

 eclipse, of which most spectators were sensible and 

 equally judges. Nor shall I trouble you with the con- 

 cern that appeared in all sorts of animals, birds, beasts, 

 and fishes, upon the extinction of the sun, since our- 

 selves could hardly behold it without some sense of 

 horror.' 



The eclipse of May 2, 1733, is remarkable as being 

 the first in which the singular appearances termed the 

 * red prominences ' were observed. * Four spots of a 

 reddish colour were seen near the limb of the moon, 

 but not in immediate contact with it.' The chief 

 interest attending the observation of total eclipses is 

 at present centred on these mysterious protuberances. 

 It has been shown very clearly that they belong to 



