THE SAROS AND THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF 1806. 687 



and sublime corona began to attract great attention from the most gifted astrono- 

 mers. Total eclipses occurred in other parts of the world, as that of 185 1 in 

 Norway and Sweden, whither great numbers of observers proceeded for the ob- 

 servation of these important phenomena. And in 1868 a goodly number of in- 

 terested astronomers visited Arabia, etc., where they saw another total eclipse of 

 the sun, and found evidence that the red flames, or tongues of light, were of a 

 gaseous character, and perhaps were vast flames of burning hydrogen on the solar 

 surface. But to our Saros : The above calculation gives, when reduced from 

 astronomical to civil time, July 18, i860, nine o'clock in the morning, for another 

 eclipse in the 1806 series. And on the third return, fifty- four years and one 

 month, it ought to be visible in Ohio, etc., again. But it would only be a partial 

 eclipse ; for the central shadow of the moon — the belt of totality, had gone north- 

 ward about 300 miles. I well remember seeing this eclipse about eight o'clock 

 that morning. The Saros time was one or two hours too late — a small matter 

 though for more than fifty years' time. 



, Doubtless many persons remember the solar eclipse of 1878, July 29th, about 

 three or four o'clock in the afternoon. The total belt ran from Behring's Strait 

 near the Pacific coast, but a fine partial eclipse (about half the sun's face) was 

 visible even here. It was raining for some time after the eclipse began; but the 

 clouds broke away in time for a fine observation of the greatest phase. Rain 

 was falling again, however, before the eclipse ended. 



I have often noticed and heard of such clear spells, as if by special Providence 

 to allow observations of eclipses and other interesting phenomena. 



The next return, 1896, August 8th, about midnight, being on the opposite side 

 of the earth, we will see nothing of it here. Now we come to the close of a cen- 

 tury, the last year of which is not a leap-year ; and there are but three Februarys 

 having twenty-nine days in that Saros, so twelve days must be added with the 

 eighteen years and seven hours to obtain the day of next return ; which, accord- 

 ing to Rev. S. J. Johnson in his book, " Eclipses Past and Future, ".will be at 

 noon August 21, 1914; corresponding well enough with our calculation, making 

 allowance for difference of longitude. He says "it will be a most striking phe- 

 nomenon" — visible in Norway and Sweden. "At London two-thirds of the 

 sun's disc will be eclipsed." Adding another Saros of eighteen years, ten days 

 and eight hours, we get 1932, eight months, thirty days, four hours. I do not find 

 any record of this eclipse ; but it certainly will occur very early in the afternoon 

 of that day, and be visible to Kansas City as a small eclipse of the sun. Johnson 

 does not mention the return in 1950, but that of 1968, September 2 2d, at ten A. 

 M. (London time), he gives as obscuring one-third of the sun's diameter. The 

 line of totality must then be near the north pole, but the partial eclipse wiU continue 

 in the arctic regions, growing less and less at each returning Saros until the year 

 2347, May nth, seven o'clock in the morning, when, according to my own cal- 

 culation, the southern edge of the moon will overlap the north side of the sun, 

 about 0.08 of the sun's diameter — nearly one digit by the old way of noting the 

 magnitude of an eclipse. To determine this matter requires a process of compu- 

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