THE SUN'S SPOTS. ?5 



Sun's disk) have always been accompanied by numerous fac- 

 uke, I am not much disposed to ascribe to nucleoid spots those 



360 A.D. In all the eastern provinces of the Roman empire, "per 

 Eoos tractus," there was obscurity from early dawn till noon ; " Ca- 

 ligo a primo aurora) exortu adusque meridiem/' Ammian. MarcelL, 

 xx., 3 ; but the stars continued to shine: consequently, there could 

 not have been any shower of ashes, nor, from the long duration of 

 the phenomenon, could it be ascribed to the action of a total eclipse 

 of the Sun, to which the historian refers it. " Cum lux ccelestis ope- 

 rirelur. e mundi conspectu penitus luce abrepta, defecisse diutius so- 

 lem pavidae mentes hominum a^stimabant : primo attenuatum in luna) 

 corniculantis efrigiem, deinde in speciem auctum semenstrem, post- 

 eaque in integrum restitutum. Quod alias non evenit ita perspicue, 

 nisi cum post imequales cursus intermenstruum luna) ad idem revo- 

 catur." " When the light of heaven, suddenly and wholly concealed, 

 was hidden from the world, trembling men thought the Sun had left 

 them for a very long time; at first it assumed the form of a horned 

 moon, then increased to half its proper size, and was finally restored 

 to its integrity. But it did not appear so bright until, after all ir- 

 regular motions were over, it returned." This description entirely 

 corresponds with a true eclipse of the Sun; but how are we to ex- 

 plain its long duration, and the "caligo" experienced in all the prov- 

 inces of the East 1 



409 A.D. When Alaric appeared before Rome, there was so great a 

 darkness that the stars were seen by day. — Schnurrer, Chronik der 

 Seuchen, th. i., p. 113. 



536. Justinianus I. Caesar imperavit annos triginta-octo (727 to 565). 

 Anno imperii nono deliquium lucis passus est Sol. quod annum inte- 

 grum et duos amplius menses duravit, adeo ut parum admodum de 

 luce ipsius appareret ; dixeruntque homines Soli aliquid accidisse, 

 quod nunquam ab eo recederet." "In the ninth year of the reign 

 of Justinian I., who reigned thirty-eight years, the Sun suffered an 

 eclipse, which lasted a whole year and two months, so that very little 

 of his light was seen; men said that something had clung to the Sun, 

 from which it would never be able to disentangle itself." — Gregorius 

 Abu'l-Faragius, Supplementum Historian Dynastiarum, ed. Edw. Po- 

 cock, 1663, p. 94. This phenomenon appears to have been very sim- 

 ilar to one observed in 1783, which, although it has received a name 

 (Hohenrauch),* has in many cases not been satisfactorily explained. 



567 A.D. " Justinus II. annos 13 imperavit (565-578). Anno imperii 

 ipsius secundo apparuit in ccelo ignis flammans juxta polum arcticum, 

 qui annum integrum permansit; obtexeruntque tenebrie mundum ab 

 hora diei nona noctem usque, adeo ut nemo quicquam videret; de- 

 ciditque ex aere quoddam pulveri minuto et cineri simile." " In 

 the second year of the reign of Justinian II., who reigned thirteen 

 years, there appeared a flame of fire in the heavens, near the North 

 Pole, and it remained there for a whole year; darkness was cast over 

 the world from three o'clock until night, so that nothing could be 

 seen ; and something resembling dust and ashes fell down from the 

 sky." — Abu'l-Farag., 1. c, p. 95. Could this phenomenon have con- 

 tinued for a whole year like a perpetual northern light (magnetic 

 storm), and been succeeded by darkness and showers of meteoric 

 dust ? 



* A kind of thick, yellowish fog, common in North Germany. 



