May 31, 1901.] 
hour, or, if more exact calculations are 
used, for 6 min. 29 sec. 
In recent eclipses the duration of totality 
has been much shorter; thus in America, 
Spain, and Algiers, in May, 1900, the total 
phase lasted not much more than one 
minute; whilst in India, in January, 1898, 
the duration was only a little more than 
two minutes in the most favorable stations. 
Hence the coming eclipse is welcomed as 
an unusual opportunity for collecting ob- 
servations by the photographic methods 
which play so important a part in modern 
investigations. Especially in spectroscopic 
researches is the photographic method ser- 
viceable ; for by the nature of this kind of 
research the light gathered by the instru- 
ments is spread out over a much greater 
extent of the photographic plate. Accord- 
ingly to collect information about the spec- 
trum of the faint light of the corona long 
exposures of the photographic plate are 
necessary. 
The valuable information published by 
the Koninklijke Natuurkundige Vereeniging in 
Batavia over the signatures of Major 
Muller, the chief of the Trigonometrical 
Survey, and Dr. Figee, the director of 
the Meteorological Observatory, Batavia, 
showed that the weather conditions were 
probably most favorable, or, shall we say, 
least unfavorable, in Sumatra, especially 
near the west coast. It is therefore not 
surprising that most of the observing parties 
converge on Padang, the port that gives 
access to the province of the West Coast, 
and lies actually on the course of the 
moon’s shadow. 
The joint permanent eclipse committee 
of the Royal Society and the Royal Astro- 
nomical Society favored the sending of an 
expedition to Mauritius, and we understood 
on leaving England that Mr. E. W. Maun- 
der, of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 
was to go thither to make observations in 
conjunction with Mr, Claxton, the director 
SCIENCE. 
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855 
of the Royal Alfred Observatory, Mauritius. 
We also learn that Mr. D. P. Todd, of 
Amherst, U. 8. A., is to be stationed at 
Singkep, an island noted for its tin mines, 
lying on the east coast of Sumatra, due 
south of Singapore. Otherwise all the ob- 
servers have come to Padang and are 
receiving the most courteous and help- 
ful reception by the Dutch authorities. 
Probably most of the parties have simi- 
lar obligations to acknowledge. The Eng- 
lish expedition received every assistance 
from Mr. Joekes, the Governor of Sumatra’s 
west coast. Thus Mr. Dyson was at once 
welcome to use the Government 
launch to make preliminary inspection of 
Trusan Bay and of the island Aoer Gedang, 
about six miles to the west of Painau and 
30 miles to the south of Padang; whilst 
Mr. Newall received every assistance from 
Mr. Delpeat, the chief of the railways, to 
go inland and search for a suitable site on 
the east side of the Barisan Mountains. 
And so within four days of landing at 
Padang the sites for observing stations of 
the English expedition were chosen. 
In order to increase the chances of secur- 
ing observations of the eclipse, the parties 
distribute themselves as far apart as pos- 
sible. The extreme stations in Sumatra 
are occupied by English parties. Mr. Dyson 
and Mr. Atkinson, assisted by his Majesty’s 
ship Pigmy, a gunboat commanded by Lieu- 
tenant Oldham, R.N., and sent from the 
China Station to assist the observers, have 
established their camp on the island Aoer 
Gedang, and will be the first to catch the 
eclipse. Here the program of observa- 
tions will be to secure (1) photographs of 
the corona on a large scale to show details 
of the structure; (2) photographs on a 
small scale to get the greatest possible ex- 
tensions of the coronal streamers; (3) 
photographs of the ultra-violet spectrum of 
corona and chromosphere and also of the 
green and yellow spectrum, with slit spec- 
