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between the earth and the sun not only produces a scene 

 of gorgeous beauty, but also enables us to study the im- 

 mediate vicinity of the sun unhindered by the glare of 

 sunlight. To take advantage of this, expeditions are 

 organized and carefully equipped to make the desired 

 observations. The questions naturally arise, what are 

 the objects of these observations, how are they made, 

 and what are the results obtained. These we shall en- 

 deavor to consider, especially as illustrated by the Total 

 Eclipse of last summer. 



We can show by the map the path of the eclipse. 

 Beginning in Siberia it crossed Behring's Straits, and 

 proceeded through Alaska and British America to the 

 United States, which it crossed in a southeasterly direc- 

 tion from Washington Territory to Texas. The moon's 

 shadow finally left the earth in the ocean. It will be seen 

 that the path was not through a populous country, being 

 almost directly over the extent of the Rocky Mountains. 

 Denver is the only large town in the path. But as the 

 country traversed is so lofty, the observations were made 

 under peculiarly favorable atmospheric conditions. No 

 observations were made north of the United States as 

 far as known. Within the United States it was considered 

 neither safe nor expedient to send parties north of the 

 Union Pacific R. R., but the surveying party of Prof. 

 Hayden, which was near the Yellowstone Park, made 

 observations there. At the stations of the U. P. R. R. 

 within the line of totality were several well equipped par- 

 ties ; in Colorado there were a great many. Three of the 

 highest peaks of the Rocky Mountains had parties on their 

 summits. In Texas several parties were located. 



The width of the path was about 116 miles ; the dura- 

 tion of totality less than three minutes. In an eclipse, 

 the width of the shadow and the duration of the total 



