66 LIGHT SCIENCE FOR LEISURE HOURS. 



the seeming limits, of the corona, as seen on this 

 occasion. 



On these points our information is sufficiently 

 definite, although the circumstances were by no means 

 such as would be considered favourable for clear vision 

 of the delicate light of the corona. 'The moment of 

 totality approached,' says Father Perry, *and no chance 

 remained of even a momentary break in the cirrus that 

 enveloped the sun and obscured most of the southern 

 heavens. As the crescent became thinner, the cusps 

 were observed first to be drawn out and then blunted, 

 the well-known " Baily's beads " were formed, and the 

 corona burst forth more than twenty seconds before 

 totality. Viewed through a telescope of very moderate 

 dimensions the spectacle was grand, but the cirrus 

 clouds destroyed almost all the grandeur of the effect 

 for the naked eye. Mr. Browne, of Wadham College, 

 Oxford, noticed that the corona was perfectly free from 

 striation, outline distinct, and approximately quadri- 

 lateral, but extending furthest in the direction of first 

 contact. The brightest part of the corona appeared to 

 the unassisted eye to be scarcely more than one-tenth 

 of the sun's diameter, fading rapidly when one-fifth, 

 but being still clearly visible at seven-eighths. Some 

 observed two curved rays, but the general appearance 

 was that of a diffused light, interrupted in four places 

 distinctly, and in a fifth faintly, by dark intervals. 

 iThe corona was white, and rendered faint by the 

 ' clouds,* 



It is clear, then, that that part of the sky whence 



