854 
THE SOLAR ECLIPSE. 
In view of the fact that some time must 
elapse before it is possible to publish a 
complete account of the results of observa- 
tions on the solar eclipse of May 17th-18th, 
the following letter, written from Padang 
by a correspondent of the London Times, 
describing the preliminary arrangements, is 
of interest : 
The last few days of our very prosperous 
voyage across the Indian Ocean in the Dutch 
mail boat Koningin Regentes have brought 
with them the sense that we are coming to 
a land where it is ‘always afternoon.’ But 
our days of eating lotus were nearly over 
just as we reached this beautiful land. The 
lighthouse close to Siberut, rising high 
above the palms, warned us that Pa- 
dang was not more than ten hours away. 
The sight of this light produces the same 
thrill that seizes one when, after crossing 
the Atlantic, the Fastnet comes into view 
and tells that the voyage is safely accom- 
plished. It is the first land that we sighted 
since we passed the splendid headland of 
Somaliland, Cape Guardafui, on March 27th; 
our course took us through the Maldives at 
night; and, though we passed through the 
“8° Canal,’ Minicoy was left so far to the 
north that we got no glimpse of the light. 
All the members of the expedition who have 
traveled out by this direct route to make 
observations during the total eclipse of the 
sun visible in Sumatra disembarked at 
Padang. : 
Three parties of observers have travele 
out on the Koningin Regentes—(1) the 
English expedition, consisting of Mr. H. F. 
Newall, of Cambridge, Mr. F. W. Dyson, 
of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, ac- 
companied by Mrs. Newall and by Mr. J. 
J. Atkinson, who has volunteered assistance 
to the party in this distant land, just as he 
did to the Astronomer Royal’s party last 
year in Portugal; (2) the Dutch expedi- 
tion, consisting of Dr. A. A. Nijland, of 
SCIENCE. 
[N. 8. Vou. XIII. No. 335. 
Utrecht, Dr. W. H. Julius, professor of 
experimental physics at Utrecht, and Mr. 
J. H. Wilterdinck, of the Leiden Observa- 
tory, accompanied by Mr. J. H. Hubrecht, 
a son of Professor Hubrecht, the eminent 
embryologist, who lately received the hon- 
orary degree of Sc.D. at Cambridge Univer- 
sity ; (3) a party from the Massachusetts In- 
stitute of Technology, consisting of Professor 
Burton, Mr. H. W. Smith, Mr. G. Hosmer, 
and Mr. G. H. Matthes. The instruments 
of all these parties were also carried by the 
same mail boat, which starts from Amster- 
dam and calls at Southampton and Genoa. 
The eclipse of the sun which will occur 
on the 17th-18th of May is of special inter- 
est on account of the long duration of the 
total phase. The shadow of the moon will 
first touch the earth at sunrise near Mada- 
gascar, and in the course of the next five 
hours it will traverse a long path on the 
earth’s surface. Passing at first in a 
northeasterly direction over Mauritius, it 
speeds across the Indian Ocean and tra- 
verses Sumatra and Borneo. It grazes the 
equator, but only a small part of the 
shadow touches the northern hemisphere. 
Then its course bends southeastwards and 
passes over the Malay Archipelago, Celebes, 
Seram, and thence over New Guinea. At 
sunset in the Coral Sea, between Melanesia 
and Australia, the shadow leaves the earth. 
The partial phase of the eclipse will be 
visible over a vastly greater region of the 
earth’s surface, as far north as Somaliland, 
India, Siam, and China, and also over the 
whole of Australia; but the real interest of 
the eclipse lies in the total phase, which 
can only be observed at stations lying on 
the line indicated. The shadow of the 
moon will be about 140 miles across as it 
passes over Sumatra, and it will travel with 
a speed of about 1,500 miles an hour. 
Hence any observer stationed near the path 
of the center of the circular shadow will 
be in the shadow for about a tenth of an 
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