158 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO 1/15. 



revere, makes me less confident, especially in a matter to which I must confess 

 I gave not all the attention requisite. Whatever it was, this ring appeared 

 much brighter and whiter near the body of the moon, than at a distance from 

 it ; and its outer circumference, which was ill defined, seemed terminated only 

 by the extreme rarity of the matter it was composed of; and in all respects it 

 resembled the appearance of an enlightened atmosphere viewed from far: but 

 whether it belonged to the sun or moon, I shall not at present undertake to 

 decide. 



During the whole time of the total eclipse I kept my telescope constantly 

 fixed on the moon, to observe what might occur in this uncommon appearance; 

 and I found that there were perpetual flashes or coruscations of light, which 

 seemed for a moment to dart out from behind the moon, on all sides, but more 

 especially on the western side a little before the emersion : and about two or 

 three seconds before it, on the same western side, where the sun was just coming 

 out, a long and very narrow streak of a dusky, but strong red light, seemed to 

 colour the dark edge of the moon ; though nothing like it had been seen im- 

 mediately after the emersion. But this instantly vanished on the first appear- 

 ance of the sun, as did also the aforesaid luminous ring. 



As to the degree of darkness, it was such that one might have expected to 

 have seen many more stars than I find were seen at London: the three planets, 

 Jupiter, Mercury and Venus were all that were seen by the gentlemen of the 

 society from the top of their house, where they had a free horizon : and I do 

 not hear that any one in town saw more than Capella and Aldebaran of the 

 fixed stars. Nor was the light of the ring round the moon capable of effacing 

 the lustre of the stars, for it was vastly inferior to that of the full moon, and 

 so weak that I did not observe that it cast a shade. But the under parts of the 

 hemisphere, especially in the south east, under the sun, had a crepuscular 

 brightness: and all round us, so much of the segment of our atmosphere as 

 was above the horizon, and was without the cone of the moon's shadow, was 

 more or less enlightened by the sun's beams : and its reflection gave a difliised 

 light, which made the air seem hazy, and hindered the appearance of the 

 stars. And that this was the real cause of it, appears by the darkness being 

 more perfect in those places near which the centre of the shade passed, where 

 many more stars were seen, and in some not less than 20; though the light of 

 the ring was to all alike. 



During the time while the sun recovered his light, several altitudes were 

 taken, to examine the regularity of the clock's motion ; and though the sun 

 now rose much slower than at the beginning, yet they all conspired, within a 



