November, 1905.] 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



273 



At Vinaroz, Spa^irv. 



By Father Augustin Morkord. 



I had been staying for some days near Bordeaux. I 

 started for Spain from the Gare du Midi on Sunday 

 evening, August 27, at 6.42, and reached \'inaroz at 

 2.45 p.m. on Monday, after a much less difficult journey 

 than I had expected. 



Father Cortie was at the station of Vinaroz. He 

 took me to the fonda (hotel), where I slept during my 

 stay, and to the house of Doctor Sebastian Roca, where 

 we took our meals in common. Our observation 

 ground was in a field of lucerne adjoining Dr. Roca's 

 garden. A gap had been made in the wall of separation 

 for our convenience. 



Father Cortie had three instruments for photograph- 

 ing the spectra in different manners, and a camera, for 

 the corona, of about 20 feet focal length. 



I, having brought the only telescope, a refractor of 

 4 5-i6ths in., and intending to make only visual ob- 

 servations, was appointed to give order to open and 

 close cameras at the beginning and before the close of 

 totality. My own observations were made with an 

 eyepiece x 70; field 52 ', with two crossed spider threads 

 di\iding the field into quadrants. 



Wednesday began auspiciously. The sun shone and 

 the clouds were dissolved in the warm air, though 

 overhead at a great height some were thickening. 



First contact was observed at 11.54. I' h-"' already 

 taken place a minute or two. 



I watched several sunspots as they passed under the 

 black disc of the moon. They did not differ sensibly in 

 colour, observed with a prism and a green glass. 



Now began our anxieties. A cone of cloud was 

 rising slowly from the S.W. At twenty minutes before 

 totality our chance of an untroubled view did not seem 

 great. 



As I had to announce totality I paid great attention 

 to Rally's beads. This phenomenon differed consider- 

 ably from that of 1900. As then, I noticed the 

 abscission and subsequent disappearance of the terminal 

 portion of the southern part of the crescent. Mr. 

 Chambers has quoted in his Astronomy Halley's de- 

 scription of this in 171 5. A second time there was a 

 division, again at the south end, but less distinct. The 

 crescent fined down verv much. A little way from 

 either end it became narrower than at the ends them- 

 selves. They appeared almost lance-headed, slightly 

 diffused on the edges. The running together of the 

 beads was much less pronounced than in igoo. There 

 were two remaining at a slight distance from each 

 other — that to the south disappeared first. 



I had been observing too closely during the last few 

 minutes to pay attention to the clouds, and I had seen 

 Baily's beads so distinctly that I never thought there 

 could be any. But I slipped off the green glass, and 

 it was evident something was wrong. The black disc 

 of the moon stood out forward. Behind there was a 

 bright but diffused light, which seemed to come from 

 behind the moon. But no coronal detail could be seen, 

 nor in the telescope did I see any the whole time. 

 However, I had no time to lose. The chief thing I 

 intended to do was to map down the positions of the 

 prominences, red, white, or pale tint, with coloured 

 chalks. Five splendid prominences were glowing 

 brilliantly in the N.E. quadrant. I had grey writing 

 paper with circles in pencil, divided into quadrants 

 corresponding with the wires in the eyepiece. I got 

 the positions of the prominences approximately correct. 



but it was difiicult at first to say of what colour they 

 were. At first they seemed white, then I noticed a 

 faint tinge of red, as of vermilion much diluted with 

 Chinese white. When the chromosphere appeared it 

 could not be said to be red. The atmospheric condi- 

 tion evidently was answerable for this, and what I saw 

 were the usual hydrogen prominences. None were in 

 the least like the two shining white columns I saw at 

 Ovar in 1900. All were somewhat plum}', or cloudlike, 

 or arboreal in form. One of the latter shape had a 

 double trunk. 



Long before these prominences in the N.E. were 

 covered by the moon's disc, one appeared floating with 

 no attachment, not more than 30°, if so much, from the 

 North Pole, in the N.W. quadrant. Others gradually 

 revealed themselves, till I had mapped seven; in both 

 quadrants 12. I saw none in the southern hemisphere. 

 All were pale, but very brilliant. Those in the N.W. 

 quadrant had, perhaps, a trifle more colour. 



I found it useless to observe the corona with the 

 telescope, so I had several good looks with the naked 

 eye. Though there was a small thin cloud covering 

 the sun, the corona was most brilliantly visible through 

 it. It was not pearly or silvery white, nor was there 

 any trace of colour. The moon was the blackest of 

 blacks, and the corona the intensest of whites, and 

 very bright. The full moon at the meridian was not 

 comparable with it in tint or brilliancy. I thought of 

 our Lord's garments at the Transfiguration, " Candida 

 nimis velut nix." 



The diameter seemed about half a solar diameter 

 broad. It was, of cour.se, impossible to see any faint 

 outlying parts. It appeared pretty equal in breadth all 

 round, the edge bordered with aigrettes. For the last 

 10 seconds it was free from clouds, but I saw nothing 

 to add to, or take from, what I have recorded. 



I had to give the order to close cameras, so I watched 

 carefully for the orange-red glow of the chromosphere. 

 I saw no decided colour, but the western limb suddenly 

 became so bright that in some alarm I called out 

 "Close! " and in one second the sunlight appeared. 

 Totality had lasted 3 mins. 25 sees., as against 3 mins. 

 36 sees, calculated. 



The sunlight gained with extraordinary rapidity, by 

 bounds, as it were, so that almost at once all im- 

 pression of eclipse was gone. Before long one felt the 

 sun beginning to scorch again in cloudless intervals. 

 The temperature had been agreeably cool for some 

 time before totality. 



The darkness may be estimated by the following : — 

 The grey notepaper on which I drew had a fairly dark 

 circle in pencil, and cross lines about twice as broad 

 and dark. The latter were clearly visible, but the 

 former so little so that I found my red chalk marks 

 were some within and some without the circle. 



I heard from others that they had seen the undulating 

 shadows. None of us had time to look for them. 



There were no flowers and very few birds to observe. 

 The behaviour of the latter was distinctly abnormal, as 

 they were terrified by the discharge of bombs by a 

 well-meaning person who hoped thus to break or scatter 

 the clouds. This is commonly done (or attempted) in 

 the case of thunder clouds, which are low. But as 

 these bombs are loaded to burst at from 400 to 500 

 metres, and the clouds were enormously higher, their 

 effect, as might have been foreseen, was nil. 



The houses, mostly flat topped, were crowded with 

 spectators, who applauded the eclipse so heartily that 

 my signals and Father Cortie's counting of seconds 

 were not too easily heard. As a spectacle, at least, 

 the eclipse was highly appreciated by them. 



