304 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LI. No. 1317 



probably at least three times as bright as the 

 full moon." 



7. The large crhnson prominence, appear- 

 ing at Cape Palmas on the southeast limb of 

 the sun, turned out to be the largest prom- 

 inence thus far photographed; it was a most 

 conspicuous and startling object, projecting 

 about 100,000 miles out from the sun's disk 

 and having a base of 300,000 miles. On the 

 southwest limb was a striking V-shaped rift 

 in the solar corona which showed marked 

 equatorial extensions to the west and east. 

 The corona was approximately of the inter- 

 mediate type between that which is seen dur- 

 ing years of minimum sun-spot aetivity, when 

 there are great equatorial extensions of the 

 corona, and that shown during years of max- 

 imum sun-spot activity, when streamers of 

 about the same length extend from the sun in 

 every direction. 



8. I succeeded in obtaining with my small 

 camera, which is provided with an excellent 

 lens, two sharp photogTaphs of 10 and 20 

 seconds exposure, which when enlarged show 

 well the cliief features of the corona and of 

 the prominence.^ In addition, as the result 

 of the interest aroused by a lecture which I 

 was requested to give in the Methodist Church 

 at Cape Palmas the day before the eclipse, a 

 niunber of free-hand sketches of the corona 

 were made for me by white merchants and by 

 Americo-Liberians ; these sketches, while not 

 one of them is complete, show a number of 

 interesting details. 



9. The results of the meteorological ohser- 

 vations at Cape Palmas will be of interest 

 in connection vrith one of the theories sug- 



5 Durmg tihe duration of totality it was neces- 

 sary for the author, (o) to take and record the 

 readings of the magnetie-intensi'ty variometer and 

 attached thermometer ait one- or two-minute inter- 

 vals, and to check every fifth minute the Liberian 

 assistant, Professor G. W. Hutchins, who had vol- 

 unteered to take the decUnometer-readings every 

 minute; (&) to observe the times of contacts, 

 obtain photographs, and give any required addi- 

 tional directions to the shadow-band observers. 

 Thus though totality lasted at Oape Palmas 6* 

 minutes, it was none too long for a Strenuous pro- 

 gram in a tropic region. 



gested for the explanation of the bending of 

 light rays, to which reference will be made 

 later. Tlu-ough the courtesy of Sir Napier 

 Shaw and Colonel H. G. Lyons the British 

 Meteorological Office loaned us a complete 

 outfit of self-recording meteorological instru- 

 ments, which were kept in operation by my 

 assistant, Mr. Johnston, as long as the con- 

 ditions permitted during our month's stay at 

 Cape Palmas." On the day of the eclipse 

 there was a steady decrease in temperature 

 from 12i> G.M.T., 0.7 minute after the first 

 contact, to 12.7'' G.M.T., and then a more 

 rapid decrease until the minimum tempera- 

 ture of 79°.4 F. was reached at W G.M.T., 

 which was approximately 0.4'' later than the 

 middle time of totality. The temperature 

 drop during the time of the eclipse was, ac- 

 cordingly, ahout 2°. 5 to S°.0 F. The increase 

 in temperature after 14'' was rapid, the max- 

 imum 82°.7 F. being reached at 14.9'' G.M.T. 

 The hygrogram for May 29 showed the fol- 

 lowing effect : the himiidity, which was 71 per 

 cent, at 12'' G.M.T. steadily increased to 78 

 per cent, at 14" G.M.T. There was a more 

 rapid decrease from 14" G.M.T. to 15" G.M.T., 

 when the humidity was 66 per cent. The 

 maximum humidity, therefore, occurred at H'', 

 or approximately 0.^ hour later than the 

 m,iddle time of totality. The harogram 

 showed nothing marleed during the time of 

 the eclipse. 



At Sobral, Dr. Crommelin states:^ 

 The eclipse day opened very unpromisingly, the 

 proportion of cloud at first contact being about 

 0.9. . . . The cloudiness during the early stages 

 was doubtless the cause of the fall of temperature 

 during totality being unexpectedly small; perhaps 

 this latter fact was connected with the dead calm 

 that prevailed during totality. 



COMPLETE SERIES OF PHOTOGRAPHS 



10. There was next shown in my lectvu'es a 

 complete series of photographs taken by the 

 various observing parties, namely: 0. G. 



6 Mr. Johnston was also enitrusted with the 

 earth-inductor work. 



T The Oiservatory, London, October, 1919, pp. 

 370-371. 



