136 Scientific Intelligence. 



Sweden and Prussia it will be about 140 geographical miles. If, there- 

 fore, the central path given belpw, be carefully marked on a good map, 

 and a line be drawn parallel thereto to the north and another to the 

 south, at the distance of seventy miles or a little less therefrom, the 

 places at which the eclipse will be total will be easily seen, there being 

 of course some doubt as to those situated like Elsineur, just within the 

 edge of the shadow, as a small error in the Moon's tabular latitude is 

 not unco!nmon. Within the lines thus drawn are included in America 

 several of the Russian settlements southeast of Sitka, part of British 

 Oregon, two of the forts of the Hudson's Bay Company on the Great 

 Slave Lake, the winter harbor of Capt. Ross in 1830, and of Capt. Parry 

 in 1822, the Northern part of the Island of Disco, in Baffin's Bay and 

 several of the Danish villages on the Western coast of Greenland ; and 

 in Europe the Northern part of Iceland, the astronomical observatories 

 at Christiana, Koeningsburg, Warsaw, and Nicolaef, also the cities of 

 Bergen, Gottenburg, Carlscrona, Calmar, Frederickshall, Jorkoping, 

 Dantzic, Elbing, Pillau, Jitomir and Cherson ; and in Asia, Tifflis and 

 Bakou, between the Black and Caspian, besides many others of 1 

 note; but Sitka, and Stockholm, Copenhagen and Odessa are not 

 included within these limits, the two former being situated a little loo 

 far to the north, and the two latter to the south. 



The most favorable of all situations for observing the eclipse will be 



where central, on the western coast of Greenland, in the southern part 



^ of Norway, Sweden, and of the Inland of Oland, and in Prussia, on 



the Baltic, between Dantzic and Koeningsburg; as the Moon being 

 there quite high^the duration of total darkness will be greater than 

 where nearer the horizon. Thus where central, in the vicinity of Port 

 Stewart, the Sun being low in the east, and of Tefflis, in the west, the 

 duration of the total obscuration will be 2m. 26sec. and 2m. Slsec, at 

 Fort Providence 2m. 49sec., in Greenland 3m. 49sec., near Bergen 3m. 

 38sec., near Pillau 3m. 20sec., and where central, in the vicinity of 

 Nicolaef 2m. 55sec. 



Although, as is above remarked, the diameter of the perfect shadow 

 on the Earth, is only about 140 geographical miles, the extent of the 

 partial shadow is comparatively very great. Indeed, if we reduce the 

 time of the end of the eclipse at Sitka, and of the beginning at War- 

 saw, to a common meridian, as that of Greenwich, it will be seen that 

 the latter precedes the former by one minute, so that although these 

 places differ 156 degrees in longitude and their distance from each 

 other is more ihari 5400 geographical,, or 6200 English miles, the 

 eclipse will begin at VVarsaw on the right sfde of the Sun, 61 seconds 

 before it will end at Sitka, on the left; the Sun, throughout the inter- 

 vening space, being more or less obscured. 



The elements of the Sun and Moon, for the following computations 

 were deduced from the English Nautical Almanac, but their diameters 

 and the parallax*of the latter, were increased by the quantities recently 

 recommended by Prof. Airy as the result of twelve years observations 

 (1836 to 1847) at the Koyal Observatory at Greenwich. The elHpti- 



city of the earth being considered to be ^j^th. 



K ^ 



