July 12, 1883J 



NA TURE 



247 



Jervoise, and Mr. Rate, jun. The servants came next in 

 two carriages, and after the empty family carriage, the 

 carriage of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and 

 then those of friends of the family. 



At the entrance to the cloisters a company of the 2nd 

 London Rifle Volunteer Regiment, formed of employes of 

 the Spottiswoode establishments, stood with arms re- 

 versed as the procession passed through to the Abbey. 

 At the West Cloister door, choristers, scholars, and 

 clergy, the Rev. Flood Jones, precentor, the Rev. John 

 Troutbeck, Minor Canon, Canon Rowsell, Canon Barry, 

 Archdeacon Farrar, and the Dean, met the body. Im- 

 mediately behind the chief mourners, and in front of those 

 from the Jerusalem Chamber came, by special invitation 

 of the family, Earl Stanhope, the Earl of Dalhousie, Sir 

 F. W. Pollock, and Mr. J. F. Moulton ; then Mr. Andrew 

 Cockerell, representing the Prince of Wales, and among 

 those from the Jerusalem Chamber, Mr. George Busk, 

 Vice-President of the Royal Institution. The coffin, still 

 covered with its lovely floral tributes, was placed under 

 the lantern, while the 90th Psalm was sung to Purcell's 

 Burial Chant, and the lesson was read by Canon Duck- 

 worth. As the notes of the anthem died away the 

 body was borne to its last resting-place, near the 

 grave of Archbishop Spottiswood. So great was 

 the congregation of mourners, that not half the 

 number could find standing room in the narrow aisle 

 in which the ;;rave is made. The Dean said the " Com- 

 mittal" and the prayers, and after the singing of Bishop 

 Wordsworth's well-known hymn, " Hark, the sound of 

 holy voices, chanting at the crystal sea," the Dean pro- 

 nounced the blessing, and the mourners, casting into the 

 grave the wreaths and bunches of flowers which many of 

 them had carried, slowly dispersed. Dr. Bridge played 

 the " Dead March '' in " Saul " at the conclusion of the 

 funeral service. The inscription on the plate of the 

 coffin, which for sole decoration bore a Latin cross of 

 brass, was — 



William Spottiswoode, 



Born January II, 1825, 

 Died June 27, 1S83. 

 A sermon in tnemoriam was preached in the Abbey by 

 the Dean on Sunday afternoon. 



THE ECLIPSE PARTY 



r ETTERS have been received from the English and 

 ■1— ' American members of the above, giving some de- 

 tails which we think may prove of interest to our readers. 

 Leaving England on February 17 in the s.s. Medway 

 the English observers made a calm passage to Colon. Here 

 they met the American party, consisting of Prof. Holden, 

 Dr. Hastings, Mr. Rockwell, Mr. Preston, Lieut Brown, and 

 Mr. Upton, to which it will be remembered they were to 

 be attached. The united party then proceeded to 

 Panama, and took ship in the Bolivia for Callao, where 

 they arrived on March 20. Early the following morning 

 the instruments and baggage were removed to the U.S.S. 

 Hartford, in which the voyage from thence was to be 

 made, and the party left Callao about five o'clock on the 

 evening of March 22, sighting Caroline Island, the spot 1 

 selected for the observations, on April 20. Although 

 named Caroline Island it is not a single island, but a low- 

 lying chain of coral islets which enclose a central lagoon. 

 The ring of islets is about seven and a half miles in 

 length, and one and a half in breadth The island like most 

 of its kind is of value on account of its stores of guano, 

 and its cocoanut produce, being leased to Messrs. Houlder 

 Brothers of 146, Leadenhall Street, whose agent at in- 

 tervals visits this, and other Pacific coral islands leased 

 to the firm. On the arrival of the Hartford a boat under 

 the charge of Lieut. Oualtrough put off to make a tour of 

 inspection, returning with the intelligence that there 

 were two large empty frame houses, several smaller ones, 



and seven inhabitants — four men, one woman, and two 

 children — who had come thither from Tahiti two months 

 previously. A site having been selected by Prof. Holden 

 for the erection of the observatory, the work of disem- 

 barkation commenced. This was a matter of great diffi- 

 culty, the nature of the coast preventing even the small 

 ship's boats approaching within several hundred yards of 

 the shore. The boats had first to run in through a narrow 

 opening in the reef, the boxes had then to be carried 

 through fifty yards or so of water, varying in depth from 

 two to three feet, next over about fifty yards of sharp 

 irregular coral rock that cut the men's shoes to pieces, 

 and finally to be carried up a soft sandy beach for upwards 

 of a quarter of a mile. However, the landing was effected 

 without accident, and the observers took possession of 

 their various quarters. 



The English observers report that the house in which 

 they were located was a very comfortable one, containing 

 a kitchen, dining-room, bed-room, bath-room, and store- 

 room, and a large laboratory. Mr. Rockwell, one of the 

 American observers, was fortunate enough to obtain the 

 luxury of a bed. Mr. Upton, another of the party, had 

 to be content with a table, whilst the rest swung their 

 hammocks and cots in the verandah, an arrangement 

 which, while possessing perhaps advantages of its own 

 when the weather was fine, was not altogether the best 

 when the nights were wet. Still the observers were not 

 uncomfortable; and if they did not "fare sumptuously 

 every day," yet, with abundance of fish and cocoanuts, 

 they did not live altogether badly. 



The weather, with the exception of one severe rain- 

 storm, was pleasant during the sojourn of the observers, 

 although nearly every day slight showers were brought to 

 the island by flying clouds. 



On the evening of the _ 22nd, just as the Hartford was 

 casting off for Tahiti, L Eclaireur 'came in with the French 

 expedition, consisting of MM. Janssen, Trouvelot, Palisa, 

 and Tacchini on board. 



The preparations for the eclipse proceeded briskly, and 

 by April 2S the siderostat, equatorial, and photohelio- 

 graph were erected and adjusted in position. The spec- 

 troscopes were next taken in hand, and the rating of the 

 clocks proceeded with. This took some time ; but mat 

 ters had so far advanced by May I that from that date, 

 with the exception of May 4, when the weather was wet, 

 two rehearsals of the observations were made daily, one 

 at 7, the other at 11.30 a m. Messrs. Preston and Brown 

 of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey during this period 

 made pendulum observations. 



By the evening of May 3 the photographers were 

 nearly ready to take trial plates, and these they hoped 

 to obtain the following day. The hitherto fine weather, 

 however changed, and before noon the next day five 

 inches of rain had fallen, and the photographic dark 

 room which had been erected was destroyed, all the dye 

 being washed out of the ruby curtains and window. This 

 damage being repaired, an attempt was made to obtain 

 trial plates the next day, but the length of time occupied 

 in rehearsing the observations, and the still unsettled 

 state of the weather, prevented this being done. The 

 early morning of the eclipse found the weather in the 

 same unsealed state ; about nine o'clock, however, the 

 clouds began to disperse themselves, and by ten o'clock 

 the sky was moderately clear. After the first contact the 

 lenses were dusted, the slits of the spectroscopes cleaned, 

 and the adjustments finally inspected. 



With regard to the work of observation itself, this was 

 done in accordance with the programme laid down before 

 the observers left England, although the time-table of 

 exposures was slightly departed from to meet the circum- 

 stances of the case, as, for instance, a greater length of 

 totality than was expected, the duration being five 

 minutes twenty-five seconds. During the eclipse the 

 direction and velocity of the wind remained constant. 



