May 25, 1882] 



NA TURE 



75 



ancient types might be found lingering in protected and 

 isolated situations. " We can understand how it is that 

 all the forms of life, ancient and recent, make together 

 one grand system ; for all are connected by generation. 

 From the continued tendency to divergence, the more 

 ancient a form, is the more generally it differs from those 

 now living. The inhabitants of each successive period in 

 the world's history have beaten their predecessors in the 

 race for life, and are in so far, higher in the scale of 

 nature ; and this may account for that vague, yet ill- 

 defined sentiment, felt by many palaeontologists, that 

 organisation on the whole has progressed. If it should 

 hereafter be proved that ancient animals resemble to a 

 certain extent the embryos of more recent animals of the 

 same class, this fact will be intelligible." 



Again, what a Hood of fresh light was poured upon 

 geological inquiry by the two chapters on Geographical 

 Distribution in the "Origin of Species!'' A new field 

 of research, or, at least, one in which comparatively little 

 had been yet attempted, was there opened out. The 

 grouping of living organisms over the globe was now seen 

 to have the most momentous geological bearings. Every 

 species of plant and animal must have had a geological 

 history, and might be made to tell its story of the changes 

 of land and sea. 



In fine, the spirit of Mr. Darwin's teaching may be 

 traced all through the literature of science, even in de- 

 partments which he never himself entered. No branch 

 of research has benefited more from the infusion of 

 this spirit than geology. Time-honoured prejudices have 

 been broken clown, theories that seemed the most surely 

 based have been reconsidered, and, when found unten- 

 able, have been boldly discarded. That the Present must 

 be taken as a guide to the Past, has been more fearlessly 

 asserted than ever. And yet it has been recognised that 

 the present differs widely from the past, that there has 

 been a progress everywhere, that Evolution and not Uni- 

 formitarianism has been the law by which geological 

 history has been governed. For the impetus with which 

 these views have been advanced in every civilised country, 

 we look up with reverence to the loved and immortal 

 name of Charles Darwin. 



{To be continued.) 



THE TOTAL ECLIPSE 



THE Special Correspondent of the Daily News with 

 the English Eclipse Expedition telegraphs as follows 

 under date, Sohag, May 17 : — 



This eventful morning was the finest we have yet had, 

 cool and without a cloud. A great crowd of natives in 

 picturesque costumes lined the road and the hill between 

 the camp and Sohag. The shore of the Nile, except 

 before the observatories, was packed with dahabeeahs 

 bringing the governors of the provinces and other notables 

 to observe the eclipse and do honour to the strangers. 

 Thanks to Moktar Bey, in charge of the camp, and a 

 force of soldiery, there was no confusion. Along a line 

 of 300 yards the French, English, and Italian observers 

 were left in undisturbed possession of tents and observa- 

 tories. Nevertheless, while the sky darkened and assumed 

 a leaden hue, the hills bounding the Nile bathed in 

 purple, the great silence gave way, and from river and 



palm-shaded slope arose a shout of wonder and fear, 

 which reached its climax at the moment of the sun's dis- 

 appearance ; nor ceased then, for, in addition to the 

 horror of an eclipse — which the natives here as in India, 

 attribute to the act of a dragon — there appeared in the 

 heavens on the right of the sun an unmistakable scimetar. 

 The eclipse had, in fact, revealed the existence of a new 

 comet. Despite the short totality, many valuable results 

 have been obtained. I am permitted to send a copy Of 

 the collective telegram sent to the various Governments 

 showing many new facts touching the sun's atmosphere ; 

 though matters have not become much simpler, which 

 means more work. The layer to which much absorption 

 has been ascribed seems vanishing from existence. The 

 band K in the spectrum of the corona fully explains the 

 eclipse colouring. The collective note is as follows : — 



" Unprecedented facilities have been accorded by the 

 Egyptian Government for the observation of the eclipse. 

 A plan was agreed upon between the Engli-h, French, 

 and Italian expeditions. Among the results, the most 

 satisfactory are photographs of the corona, and a com- 

 plete spectrum obtained by Schuster on Abney's plates. 

 H and K are the most intense lines. A study of the red 

 end of the spectrum of corona and protuberances was 

 made by Tacchini. A comet near the sun was a striking 

 object ; it was photographed and observed by the naked 

 eye. Bright lines were observed before and after totality 

 at different heights by Lockyer, with intensities differing 

 from Fraunhofer's lines; by Lockyer and Trdpied an 

 absolute determination was made of the place of the 

 coronal line 1474 in Kirchhoff's scale; by Thollon and 

 Trepied the absence of dark lines from the coronal spec- 

 trum was noted. Tacchini and Thollon, with very dif- 

 ferent dispersions, noted many bright lines in the violet. 

 Thollon observed spectrum of the corona, and Schuster 

 photographed it. The hydrogen and coronal line were 

 studied in the grating spectroscope by Buisieux, and 

 with direct vision prism by Thollon. Rings were ob- 

 served in the grating by Lockyer, of the first, second, 

 and third order. The continuous spectrum is fainter than 

 187S, stronger than 1871. An intensification of the 

 absorption lines was observed in group B, at moon's 

 edge, by Trepied and Thollon. — (Signed), Lockyer, 

 Tacchini, and Thollon." 



When our cases are packed, we shall start directly 

 home. 



Captain Abney writes as follows to the Photographic 

 News : — 



I have received a brief telegram from Egypt regarding 

 the Eclipse Expedition, and as it is in cipher I give the 

 gist of the news. " Very successful all round. The whole 

 of the spectrum with blue lines on a continuous back- 

 ground has been photographed. Prominences photo- 

 graphed with the prismatic camera (showing, of course, 

 ring spectrum). Three photographs taken of the corona. 

 A comet close to sun photographed with the prismatic and 

 also ordinary cameras." 



A telegram from the Alexandria correspondent of the 

 Daily News states that Mr. Lockyer was to leave for 

 London yesterday by the Peninsular and Oriental Com- 

 pany's steamer Clyde, while the other members of the 

 Eclipse Expedition, with their instruments, were to leave 

 next week. 



