No. 12. [From Nature, December 21, 1905, Vol. LXX1II, 

 P- 



THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 

 AUGUST 30, 1905 



IN visiting Spain at the end of August of this year 

 I was actuated by the desire once again, after an interval 

 of twenty-three years, to witness the marvellous and unique 

 phenomenon of a total solar eclipse. It is a sight which 

 cannot be imagined it must be seen. Happening at a time 

 of maximum sun-spot frequency, it was reasonable to expect 

 a considerable display of protuberances, and I wished to form 

 my own idea of their size by checking their persistence or 

 non-persistence through the phase of mid-totality on a day 

 which otherwise may be taken to have been chosen at 

 random. For this purpose a station on, or very close to, 

 the line of central eclipse was essential. Torreblanca was 

 chosen because it was the station of the Barcelona and 

 Valencia railway which was nearest to the line of central 

 eclipse, lying, in fact, about a mile to the south-west of it. 



I observed the eclipse from the railway station, the posi- 

 tion of which is lat. 40 12' N. and long. o 12' E. (Greenwich). 

 The railway and official time of Spain is that of Greenwich. 

 By the clock at the railway station, mid-totality occurred 

 between I h. 18 m. and I h. 19 m. p.m. Before the beginning 

 of the eclipse I entered in my note-book half the expected 

 duration of totality, I m. 50 s. ; when I had observed the 

 second contact, I wrote the time underneath, and, by ad- 

 dition, ascertained the time of mid-totality by my watch. 

 The display of protuberances which appeared just before the 

 moment of second contact, and on the part of the sun's 



