VII I. J 



PROMINENCES, 



by the passage of the moon over the sun, or eve*E 



atmosphere of the moon coloured, by the strange way in which 

 the solar light then fell upon them; but their solar origin has 

 now been conclusively established, chiefly by the observations 

 of the eclipses of 1842, 1851, and 1860. 



The observations of the eclipse of 1842 afforded evidence 

 that these red prominences or flames these different-coloured 

 phenomena were really, so to speak, upper crests of an almost 

 continuous cloud- sea round the sun. 



FiG. 36. Total eclipse (Dawes), 1851. 



Ill the drawings in question, a fine low level, of the same 

 colour as the prominence itself, was shown connecting the pro- 

 minences, while later drawings gave us those prominences alone 

 after the moon had covered all the lower portion. That any doubt 

 should have remained after such an observation as this is as 

 good an indication as I can give of the extreme difficulty of 

 making observations during eclipses, and how important it is that 

 one should have a method which makes us independent of them. 



The above hasty sketch of localised solar phenomena must 

 suffice for the present ; in the sequel we shall have to return to 

 the various points from the chemical point of view. 



H 



