Dec. 14, 1883.] 



• KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



363 



THE ECLIPSE OF LAST MAY. 



WE give this week a most interesting picture of the 

 solar corona as drawn by M. Trouvelot during the 

 eclipse of last May. M. Janssen's report mentions that 

 all the forms shown in the picture were seen with singular 

 distinctness. The eclipse is remarkable for the success 

 with which Janssen examined the spectrum of the corona 

 for the Fraunhofer dark lines of which he placed about a 

 hundred, showing clearly that the corona's light is in part 

 reflected sunlight. M. Tacchini detected in the spectrum 

 of the great coronal plume the bands shown in the well- 

 known spectrum of comets. It need hardly be said that 





M. Janssen mentions only to dismiss with a smile Dr. 

 Hasting's notion that because signs of the effects of diffrac- 

 tion can be detected in the corona, therefore the corona is 

 wholly a phenomenon of diffraction. 



CDtton'al (^osisiip. 



I FIND so much that is really scientific, as well as amus- 

 ing, in Mr. Trotter'.s poem that I have inserted it as it 

 stood. 1 had occasion to make a little note upon one jiart 

 of it, and as I found a prose note had a comical effect I ran 

 the note (with as little change as possible) into rhymed 

 form. 



Overhead Wires. — The agitation against overhead 

 wires has lately received some support from the risks 

 incurred by (iremen and spectators during the progress of 

 fires. While the great (ilasgow fire was raging, a con- 

 siderable number of wires came down, and at Nottingham, 

 lost week, the tire which destroyed the large oil-mill melted 

 the wires crossing the burning premises. 



TIME TURNED BACK.* 



BRING out Imagination, and we'll put her to the Car, 

 And harness fitful Fancy, for to-day we travel far, 

 Due northwards our direction, and through chilly gloomy 



Space, 

 One hundred and six five billion miles, t and at a rattling 



pace. 



***** 

 Now stop, and turn our telescope towards the distant 



Earth, 

 And we shall shortly see how much our expedition's worth. 

 We've found it : now bring England to the middle of the 



field; 

 Slip on a higher power that will good definition yield. 

 Here's a quiet Hampshire village, that we've never seen 



before, 

 And 'tis as though we stood before a lowly cottage door; 

 And peeping through the lattice, there's an aged woman 



sitting 

 In an arm-chair by the fireside, feebly toUing at her 



knitting. 

 Who's this weather-beaten soldier bursting through the 



cottage door ? 

 'Tis her soxi — and see, she knows his footstep on the sanded 



floor — 

 Just back from the Crimea : no more battles, night alarms, 

 No more hardships and privations. 



***** 



Leave him in his mother's arms 

 And away again at twice the speed of light — 'tis quickly 



reckoned. 

 You'll find 'tis:): nigh three seven three thousand miles 



through Space per second. 



***** 

 Now through the cottage window there's a sight that makes 



one glad. 

 As the thankful mother kisses the brown cheeks of her 



dear lad. 

 But see, the two are separatin,g and with outstretched arm 

 The good old lady sinks into her chair, and with a calm 

 And unexcited manner, in the firelight gently rocking, 

 Is quietly at work, but is unpicking her new stocking. 

 The soldier striding backwards, his strong arms are still 



stretched out — 

 Backs through the door which opens of itself to let him 



out. 

 A last glance within the window shows us plainly, if we 



wait, 

 We shall see the soldier's mother, who now wipes a pewter- 

 plate, 

 Engaged at supper ; but the sight would surely turn us 



pale, 

 So over the description, we had better draw a veil. 

 The soldier backs along the road — to him it's not surprising 

 That in the glowing western sky the evening sun is rising, 

 And that the busy village mill, with never-ceasing clack. 

 Makes grain from flour, and with the wheel it laps the mill- 

 stream back. 

 And that the reeds in yonder brook, where gurgling eddies 



gleam. 

 Nodding their heads, bend forward low against the rapid 



stream. 



• Suggested by " The Stars and the Earth." 



t 165,000,000,000,000 ( = 165 x 10"). J 372,800. 



