VOL. XXV.J PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 295 



of the sun on a scene plate, behind his 7-foot glass, so as it appeared 7 inches 

 over. By reason of cloudy weather, he saw neither the beginning nor end: 

 but other phases near the middle^ as follows; the times by the clock corrected. 



8h. 35m. 3 digits, dark; — Qh. Im. 7 ; by ocular estimation. — 4m. 54s. S-^Vj 

 eclipsed on the scene. — 6m. 33s. 84- digits. — 7^' 53s. S-j-V digits. — 1 2m. 

 50s. 9 digits. — 16m. 8s. Q^-^ digits. — 18m, 48s. 9-I- digits exactly, the sun 

 shining out clear. — 20m. 45s. 94. digits, the sun still shining clearly. 

 Greatest obscuration. — 21m. 48s. 94- digits, still clear. — 28m. 46s. 9 digits. 

 — 44m. 45s. 7 digits. — 54m. 42s. 5^- digits. — lOh. 6m, lOs. 3-1- digits. — 

 19m. 55s. 1 digit, precisely. — 24m. the sun seen through clouds, the eclipse 

 not ended. — 30m. the sun seen again perfectly round and entire. 



At Berne in Switzerland, Captain Stannyan observed, that the sun was totally 

 darkened there for 4> minutes of time; that a fixed star and a planet appeared 

 very bright; and that his getting out of the eclipse was preceded by a blood 



born in l651 or 11552, and where he died in 174-2, in the 91st year of his age. Becoming very 

 early acquainted with Mr. Flamsteed, and being an exceedingly accurate engraver and ingenious 

 operator with all kinds of tools, he remained a considerable time with him, to assist in contriving, 

 adapting, and fitting up the astronomical apparatus in the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, which 

 had been lately built, viz. about the year ]676"j where, with his own hands, he constructed, 

 divided, and set up the large brass mural quadrant, of 791 or 80 inches radius. With this instrument 

 he continued some time in making there various astrononomical observations, and assisting Mr. F. in 

 settling the places and catalogue of 3000 fixed stars. But the fatigue of continually making such 

 obsei vatk)ns at night, and in a cold thin air, impaired his constitution, which was naturally delicate j 

 so that he was obliged to quit this favourite situation, and retire to his family estate at Little Bradford, 

 worth about 2001. a year, and which had devolved on him. Here he resided the rest of a long 

 life, spent in close study and calculations, and ingenious mechanical devices. Here he furnished an 

 observatory with instruments of his own construction entirely, as telescopes, quadrants, &c. and those 

 of the very best kinds ; here he filled a workshop with delicate tools of his own making, for various 

 mechanical operations, as those of joiners, clockmakers, turners, opticians, mathematical instrument 

 makers, &c. In this retreat also it was that he still continued to assist Mr, Flamsteed, by calculating 

 most of the tables in the 2d volume of his Historia Coelestis, and making the curious drawings of 

 all the planespheres and constellations, &c. Here also he kept up a correspondence with the prin- 

 cipal mathematicians in and about London 3 as Newton, Halley, Wallis, Hodgson, Sherwin, &c. 

 to whom he was the common resource in many nice and troublesome calculations. 



Though Mr. Sharp wrote and calculated so much for others, he published but little himself j indeed 

 nothing it seems besides one volume in 4to, in 1717) intiiled Geometry improved, by A. S. Philo- 

 math 5 which contains some curious and intricate geometrical disquisitions, illustrated with several 

 copper-plates, most delicately engraven by himself. He undertook the quadrature of the circle in 

 ^^99» as deduced from two infinite series, which he extended to 72 decimal figures ; he made also 

 various improvements in the calculation of logarithms, with the tables of sines, tangents, secants, 

 &c. the particulars of all which may be seen iii the introduction to Dr. Button's Logarithmic 

 Tables. 



