lvi Appendix. 
of all these phenomena. In regard to the auroras of last February he has 
pointed out that a meteor-stream made its presence known by shooting-stars 
at the time of the auroral display of the 4th. In the case of auroras in 
January he traces a stream of meteors from the neighbourhood of Jupiter, 
where but a short time before phenomena of a very singular character were 
observed, which he claims to have been the effect of similar auroral displays in 
the Jovian atmosphere. Jupiter’s third satellite passed between us and the 
disc of the planet in December last. Those who were observing it saw with 
surprise that instead of appearing bright on the grey background of the 
_planet’s atmosphere, it appeared black in contrast with a light of unusual 
brilliance and of a rosy tint, which seemed to be produced in the atmosphere 
of the planet, and which some observers conjectured to be a Jovian aurora. 
A few days afterwards, early in January, 1872, some fine auroras brightened 
the atmosphere of our own planet, and very shortly afterwards an extra- 
ordinary number of protuberances and hydrogen jets made their appearance 
on the sun. The stream of meteors—to the action of which M. Silbermann 
attributes the occurrence of all these phenomena—continued to pass the 
earth for some weeks afterwards, making its presence known by shooting stars 
radiating from a particular point in the heavens, near the place of Jupiter, 
and by the auroras of 4th February and 22nd and 23d of the same month, 
which accompanied these apparitions. 
The central point in the astronomical work of the past year is undoubtedly 
the observation of the eclipse of December last. The secrets of the chromo- 
sphere having been so successfully unravelled, the attention of astronomers 
was, during the last eclipse, devoted in a great measure to the solution of 
another grand solar problem—the constitution of the Corona. This question 
may be said to have been definitely set at rest by the observations then taken. 
The most successful observations were those of M. Janssen, and I very much 
regret that his detailed account of them has not yet reached this distant corner 
of the world, not having been presented to his associates of the French 
Academy of Sciences up to the end of June. On this account, and because 
this address is otherwise too long, I propose to remit my remarks on this 
eclipse to some future occasion. Here I will merely say that the observations 
of December last definitely prove that the coronal light, which is seen during 
a total eclipse, is not a simple phenomenon. It is partly derived from reflection 
of solar light by the particles of a true solar atmosphere, and partly from 
hydrogen, and probably some other substances, which are at a sufficiently high 
temperature to be self-luminous. | 
Setting aside the eclipse observations for the present, the most interesting 
. of the work that has been performed by astronomers during the past year is 
_ that which relates to the chromosphere of the sun. Since the method of 
