*148 PHILOSOl'HICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO 1704. 



' rioted, that as the current air is weakened in its force, the weight of the atmos- 

 phere again increases, and the mercury in the barometers gradually ascends. 



An Account of some Eclipses of the Sun and Moon, observed at Cambridge, 

 in New-England. By Mr. Thomas Brattle. N° 292, p. l630. 



On the 12th of June 1694, in the morning, I went to the College at Cam- 

 bridge, about 4 miles from Boston, and observed an eclipse of the sun, with 

 the brass quadrant there, having telescopic sights, the rays of the sun being 

 transmitted through one of the said sights, on a clean paf>er, pasted on a plain 

 piece of board, and fastened at right angles about a foot distant from the said 

 sight ; on which paper I had drawn a circle, between 2 and 3 inches diameter, 

 equal to the sun's disk, and within that several concentric circles, dividing the 

 diameter into 24 equal parts, by which I could observe to -i- a digit. The room 

 in which the observation was made, was darkened with blankets; and to render 

 the observation the more exact, and to rectify the watch, I took the altitude of 

 the sun with the quadrant. 



The eclipse began at C^^ 14"^, and continued increasing till 10*^ 55*", when it 

 was at the greatest, the quantity being rather more than lO-J^ digits. After 

 which it gradually decreased 10 the end, at SS*" afternoon. 



The second is of a lunar eclipse, that happened Feb. 11, 1700, in the 

 evening, as follows: 



The moon rose eclipsed, and the horizon was so overcast, that I despaired of 

 having any observation ; but at -J- an hour past 6, she came from under the 

 cloud, and at 6*^ 25"^ I had just a sight of her, and judge her eclipsed about 5 

 digits. The eclipse ended at 7^ 43"^. 



The observation of the eclipse of the sun on the 27th of Nov. 1703, was as 

 follows: The eclipse, which was a very small one, began at 10*^ 6% and ended 

 ^t 10^ 444^"*. 



■ I judged when the eclipse was at the height, that the chord of the eclipsed 

 part was nearest equal to the side of an inscribed decagon, or subtended about 

 -jij- of the periphery of the sun's disk. 



The last is an observation of the eclipse of the moon on Dec. 12, 1703, in 

 the morning. The eclipse began at 11** 45"*; the total immersion was at 

 12^ 54-J-™ ; the moon began to emerge 9X 14'* 39°* ; and the eclipse ended 

 at 15** 45°'. 



On these eclipses Mr. Hodgson, in London, remarks as follows: I had 

 the good fortune to make some few observations on that of Dec. 11, 1704. 

 The heavens being cloudy most part of the night, it was 35^ after 4 in the 

 morning following, before I could perceive that the moon was eclipsed ; and 

 then, as near as I could judge, she had been so about 3 or 4 minutes at most ; 



