488- TRANS. ST. LOUIS ACAD. SCIENCE. 



which was, liowever, a partial one near Sardes (U 9°E.); it did 

 not at all coincide with sunrise, and, besides, it clearly disagrees- 

 with ancient history and chronology. 



7. Herodotus (ix. lo : 6 -^ho:; dfiapcodr] iv rw obpavw) bears 

 witness that two years after Xerxes' eclipse, one year after the 

 celebration of the Olympian games (June, — 477)), arch. Callia- 

 des ( — 476), a partial eclipse of the sun happened near Corinth, 

 one year subsequent to the battle at Salamis ( — 477, March 

 19th). This is the ecliptic new moon in — 476, August ist, ih. 

 30m. (-f-3h 46m.), Uo°E., (—5° 49'), curve 14°, 15°, —21°. 

 Petavius had recourse to the eclipse in — 479, Oct. 2d, ih., ft 9° 

 west, obscuration seven inches ; but this eclipse preceded Xerxes* 

 arrival in Greece, and it is in conflict with the epochs of the 

 Olympian games. 



9 & 10. The Fasti Siculi (p. 162: 6 '^Xcoq iqiXcTZBv) refer a 

 solar eclipse to Ol. 78, 4, i.e. to — 460, Mar. 9, 23h. 30m., IS 16° 

 E , curve touching 46°, 68°, -f-. According to our Table (p. 429), 

 the longitude of the 15 was shorter by 5° 44' , and hence the 

 obscuration of the sun was nearly total in Greece. In — 461 and 

 — 462 and — 463 no solar eclipse was visible in Greece. Euse- 

 bins (ad 01. 78, 4, Armen. p. 338) and Hieronymus likewise 

 mention an eclipse referring to Ol. 78, 4, which is, no doubt, the 

 one aforesaid. It is, however, to be mentioned, that Philostratus 

 (i. 11) reports Anaxagoras, living from — 497 to — 421, who was 

 the instructor of Pericles, the ruler of Attica from — 478 to — 428, 

 to have predicted, like Thales, a solar eclipse in Athens whilst he 

 (Anaxagoras) was "32 years old." Consequently, Anaxagoras 

 may have predicted the eclipse in — 465 (497 — 32^=465), and 

 in the course of this same year an eclipse occurred on Dec. 25th, 

 2oh., U 6°W., curve 37°, 11°, 27°. Philostratus (i. 2), moreover, 

 relates (see Pingre's Cometography i. 256) that during the eclipse 

 predicted by Anaxagoras a comet was discovered near the sun, 

 which would have been impossible on occasion of a partial obscu- 

 ration of the sun like that obtained by Halley's Tables. Accord- 

 ing to the Table on p. 429, the longitude of the U was in — 460 

 shorter by 5° 46', and hence the obscuration must have been 

 total, or nearly total, in Athens. Even Pliny (H. N. ii. 59) and 

 Plutarch's Lysias report that, 01. 78, 2, a comet was visible dur- 

 ing 75 days. 



