10 Life and Letters of Fraims Golfon 



reprfsentatiuu uf these appearances, in the case of small black snow-liuleii clouds sailing before 

 the sun. When tin' clnuils are in any way transparent, though eonw indiciUioDK of these brushes 



may be observed, their efftxit is proportionately feeble, and if the sun Ihj maskwl by an object 

 at no great distance, the etTect does not occur at all. Tlio conimon ai-tist representations of the 

 sun about to ri.se over a distant hill, show that these appearancea are generally recognised. Now 

 I can hardly understand what I have de«cribe<l, on any other supposition than that of sun-beams 

 being reflected from off the hack of the cloud at a very acute angle athwart the line of sight. 

 They would illuminate the haze of the atmosphere through wiiich they passed, and being seen 

 exceedingly foreshortene<l, would be the more apparent. But here I stop. I do not comprehend 

 why the wisps of light should l)e projected from the cusps of tlie uncovering sun, and therefore 

 have an apparent movement of rtivolution. Still less can I understand why the moon, which is 

 presumed to have no atmosphere of anj' description', capable of being illuniined by passing 

 rays, should exhibit this appearance so Ixjautifully. When I shall have seen wisps of light, as 

 in Figs. 3 or 4, coming from a cloud, but sha}>od in any way like tho.se of Fig. 1 — convergent 

 and not divergent, curved and not straight — whether owing to irregular distribution of the 

 adjacent haze or other intelligible reason, I shall hardlj' resist feeling satisfied that the Corona 

 is mainly due to the same description of cause that produces them, whatever that cause may 

 really be. There may, in addition, be some luminous effect produced by an enveloping atmo- 

 sphere of light round the sun, seen beyond the edges of the eclipsing moon 



As to my colours: after a good deal of trouble, I find I can reproduce the exact effect that I 

 witnessed, by placing them in a closed lx)x having a dark ceiling, and admitting a faint white 

 light at a low angle. I then view the colours also at a low angle through a piece of dull yellow 

 glass. All these details seem essential to effect: they are in some sort, the equivalents to a 

 yellow sky near the horizon, and gloom above head." ( V.T. 1860, pp. 440-4.) 



• 



We have given this long extract from Galton's paper because it shows 

 not only the working of Galton's mind at the time, but is very character- 

 istic of the general manner in which he approached problems. He thought 

 and reasoned about things for hini.self even when they might lead liiin 

 astray. His cm^ed corona rays have been confirmed. He alone noted that 

 cusp rays were still visible when the crescent was masked by the hand. 

 Galton's observations (Ijut not his inferences from them) will be found 

 in Ranyard's "Observations made during Total Solar Eclipses" {Memoirs 

 of R. Astron. Soc. Vol. XLI, 1879), where his sketches are reproduced 

 (pp. 563-4) in more finished fonn. 



' The brushes according to Oalton's sketch extended to three times the moon's diameter. 



