15. 



ON THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN, 28 JULY 1851, AS SEEN AT 



FREDERIKSVAERN. 



Latitude, 58 59' 33"-9 N. Longitude, 40 m 15 s -5 East. 

 [From the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. Vol. xxi. (1852).] 



THE approach of the total eclipse of July 28, 1851, produced in me a 

 strong desire to witness so rare and striking a phenomenon. Not that I 

 had much hope of being able to add anything of scientific importance to 

 the accounts of the many experienced astronomers who were preparing to 

 observe it ; for I was not unaware of the difficulty which one not much 

 accustomed to astronomical observation would have in preserving the requisite 

 coolness and command of the attention amid circumstances so novel, where 

 the points of interest are so numerous, and the time allowed for observation 

 is so short. Certainly my experience has now shewn that I did not ex- 

 aggerate these difficulties ; but I have at least the satisfaction of having 

 formed a far more vivid idea of the phenomenon than I could have ob- 

 tained from any description ; and I think that if I should ever have another 

 opportunity of observing a total eclipse, I should be prepared to give a 

 much better account of it than I can of the present. 



I left Hull, by steamer, on the evening of Saturday, July 19, together 

 with a large party of astronomers bound on the same errand with myself. 

 In the afternoon of Tuesday the 22nd, we arrived at Christiania, where I 

 landed with several other passengers, the remainder of the party going on 

 to Gottenburg. We had no trouble in getting our instruments on shore ; 



