THE ECLIPSE OF 1871. 



I2 5 



Let us next consider the work of a practised 

 draughtsman, Mr. Holiday. 'This gentleman,' says 

 the Daily News correspondent, 'proposed to sketch 

 with his right eye while the left was at the eye-piece 

 of the telescope ; and, more than this, he did it. ... 

 On the appearance of Baily's beads ' (that is, at the 

 moment when the last fine sickle of direct sunlight 

 broke up into small arcs of light), ' he removed the 

 dark glass from the eye-piece of his telescope, but 

 replaced it instantly, finding that even the feeble light 

 was still too strong for the eye that had firmly resolved 

 to note each delicate feature of the corona. Still, the 

 time was not lost, for in that momentary glance he saw 

 doubtless what have been called the "rays before 

 totality," which he at once recognised as the two 

 great lines which marked the limits of the advancing 

 shadow. After a few seconds the glass was removed, 

 and there in all its glorious beauty was a grand corona 

 of the most fantastic type, not unlike the one given by 

 Liais. To outline this was the work of a few seconds. 

 Curiously enough, there are points of difference and 

 points of agreement between this drawing and the 

 photographs, which will, doubtless, when the time 

 comes, undergo the most searching examination. After 

 the middle of the eclipse another drawing was made, 

 showing that the corona had become much more 

 diffuse than at its first appearance, and maintained 

 the same form nearly till the re-appearance of the 

 sun.' 



It is to be noted, as respects this account, that the 



