VOL. XL.] VHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. .Ifl 



like two contiguous drops of water on a table, when they touch one another;" 

 and he adds, that it came on in the same way. This appearance seems to be 

 accountable from the same optical deception as the former. 



During the appearance of the annulus, the direct light of the sun was 

 still very considerable ; but the places that were shaded from his light ap- 

 peared gloomy. There was a dusk in the atmosphere, especially towards 

 the north and east. In those chambers that had not their lights westwards, 

 the obscurity was considerable. Venus appeared plainly, and continued visi- 

 ble long after the annulus was dissolved, and other stars were seen by some: 

 one gentleman is positive, that, being shaded from the sun, he discerned some 

 stars northwards, which he thinks by their position were in ursa major. 



It was very cold at this time ; a little thin snow fell ; and some small pools 

 of water in the college area, where there was no ice at 2 o'clock, were 

 frozen at 4. A reflecting telescope of a large size, and of a much greater 

 aperture than ordinary, that took in the whole sun, and burned cloth very 

 suddenly through the tinged glass at the beginning of the eclipse, and on that 

 account could not then be used with safety, was that by which Mr. Short 

 observed the annular appearance. Some curious gentlemen found, that a 

 common burning-glass, which kindled tinder at 3^ SQ™, and burned cloth at 

 4** 8™, had no effect during the annular appearance, and for some time before 

 and after it. 



The first internal contact of the disks, at the formation of the annulus, 

 was considerably below the west point of the sun's disk ; and the second 

 contact, at the dissolution of the annulus, seemed to be about 10° eastwards 

 from the north point or zenith of the disk. The breadth of the annulus 

 towards the south-east part of the sun's disk, was at least double of its breadth 

 towards the opposite part, about the middle of this appearance. Mr. M. pro- 

 posed to have made some estimation of the ratio of the continuance of the 

 annular appearance, where it was central, to its continuance at Edinburgh, 

 from that of the arithmetical mean between the numbers that should express 

 the proportion of the greatest and least breath of the annulus, to the geome- 

 trical mean between the same numbers ; or from the ratio of the radius to the 

 sine of half the arch intercepted between the two points of internal contact; 

 but he did not obtain these ratios with sufficient exactness. 



At 3*' 31"" 43' the annulus was dissolved, after having continued 5™ 48'; 

 the middle of the eclipse was therefore at 3'' 28™ 4g\ In this the time by ob- 

 servation did not agree so well with the time by computation, as in the begin- 

 ning of the eclipse, the difference being here about 4 minutes. The irregu- 



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