

ix.J ALPINE TRAVELS, 1842. 279 



Plana, with Sig. Giulio, called for me at four, and we went 

 very hopelessly to the Observatory, arriving about half- 

 past four. The sun showed himself a little, with very 

 rough edges indicating, as Sig. Plana remarked, " fonc- 

 tions diaboliques" in the theory of refraction. He then 

 waded through clouds, which cleared for a while, but, as 

 the eclipse proceeded and the sun lost power, became 

 thk-k and motionless. I caught the commencement 

 between the clouds, but we then saw no more of it until 

 the moon was more than half off and not even the 



L The period of total darkness was, however, suf- 

 ficiently striking. It came on literally with frightful 

 rapidity, so as to give one the idea of a great movement 

 taking place in the universe, such as might well be 

 supposed to intimate the Day of Judgment. The shadow 

 plainly came from the west and rushed to the east, 

 which gave no doubt this feeling of motion of some- 

 thing passing with portentous velocity, and scattering 

 darkness as it flew. From our station I could distinctly 

 see it sweep over the great plain of Lombardy, with an 

 actual velocity, according to Carlini's memoir, of 1^ 

 Italian miles per second. The effect was appalling. 

 The suddenness of the transition surpassed all expecta- 

 tion, and I think the darkness also. ... It went off 

 with equal rapidity, and the rush of dawn moving over 

 the plain from the west with a velocity of 6,000 miles 

 an hour was grand ! 



4 Mr. and Mrs. Airy were more fortunate at the 

 Superga. They saw the sun during the whole of the 

 lity, the mass of clouds which hid it from us bein^ 

 above their heads. They saw a ring round the moon of 

 ly luMre, |th of her diameter in breadth. After the 

 e< -lips.- I went to bed in sadness; but no one's disapj 'oint- 

 ment was comparaMe to that of poor kind Si^. liana, 

 who had taken infinite trouble beforehand, and was 

 greatly interested in ree.-ivin^ and entertaining us. 



'I spent part of the evening in conversation with him. 



caking amongst other things of Fre.-nel' 

 surfaces, he observed h>w limited our po\\vr> of obsei 



