/\^2 TRAXS. ST. LOUIS ACAD. SCIEN'CE. 



by 60 d lys, and vice versa, it vv^as natural that July corresponded 

 sometimes with our September. About that time only one great 

 eclipse happened near sunrise in Rome, viz. thnt in -340, Sept. 

 25th, i8h., XS 10° E. This eclipse, how^ever, preceded sunrise in 

 Rome, and, the present theory of the moon being true, it vv^ould 

 have been a small one ; but, accoi'ding to our Table i p. 429-30), 

 the obscuration happened 3 hours later, and the longitude of the 

 X3 was 4° shorter. According to Fingre, the shadow of the moon 

 extended only to 48°, 32°, 12° N. Lat. ; hence this eclipse was, 

 according to the present theory, invisible in Rome. 



8. Livy (x. 23) narrates that u.c. 457, coss. Claud. Caecus and 

 Vol. Flamma, "prodigia fuerunt — supplicationes in biduum." 

 Solar eclipses belonging to Roman prodigia, Calvisius referred 

 to the eclipse in -295, Nov. 6, 22h. 30m., ft., 3° W. ; but it was 

 not yet known that the consuls of this time ruled one year later 

 than Petavius had stated, and that the Roman year commenced 

 several months later than the Julian one (Comp. no. 7). Hence 

 the eclipse reported by Livy was that in -293, March 23d, 2311- 

 (-|-3h. 13m.), 15 12° E., or rather 7^^ E. Without this correction 

 the shadow of the moon would seem to have reached 0°, 29°, 58° 

 only. 



9. Polybius (v. 78, p. 383 Sh.) reports that coss. Liv. Salinator 

 and ^mil. Paullus, u.c. 535, a lunar eclipse {ixXuipc^ azlrjvr^^) 

 was observed in Mysia (29° E.) Petavius alluded to the eclipse 

 in _2i8, March 19th, i4h., because he had antedated the consuls 

 by one year. Polybius's eclipse is that in _ 217, March 9, 4h., V 

 3° W. According to our Table (p. 429-30), the said eclipse hap- 

 pened three hours later, and without this correction the eclipse 

 would have preceded sunset in Mysia. 



10. Livy (xxii. 1) and Obsequens (c. 31) bear witness that 

 u.c. 536, i.e. _2i6, a small eclipse of the sun (solis orbem minui 

 visum) happened in Sardinia. This was the eclipse in _ 216, 

 Feb. 1 1, 2h. 30m., U 5° E. According to the usual theory of the 

 moon's Nodes, the obscuration of the sun in Sardinia amounted 

 to eight inches, which clearly contradicts Livy ; consequently the 

 longitude of the U must have been shorter by about 4° 34' 

 (p. 430). Since, moreover, in -217, no solar eclipse was possi- 

 ble,' this eclipse again demonstrates that Petavius has antedated 

 the consuls down to Caesar by one year. 



