1871J The Eclipse of Last December. 227 



steam pressure at all. The explosion is a striking instance 

 of the folly of neglecting periodical inspection. 



" At the coroner's inquest the jury returned a verdict of 

 ' Accidental Death,' adding that they considered great 

 neglect had been displayed by the conduct of the employers, 

 and urging the coroner to call the attention of the Home 

 Secretary to the fact that it is considered desirable that the 

 periodical inspection of boilers should be compulsory." 



VI. THE ECLIPSE OF LAST DECEMBER, 



WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE INTERPRETATION OF 

 THE SOLAR CORONA. 



By Richard A. Proctor, B.A., Cambridge. 



IX months ago, I dealt in these pages with the circum- 

 stances of the eclipse to which astronomers were at 

 that time looking hopefully forward. The plate 

 which illustrated my paper showed the course which would 

 be followed by the moon's shadow as it swept across the 

 earth's surface. In that plate, the chief observing stations 

 were also indicated; while in the body of the paper I dis- 

 cussed the modes of observation which astronomers and 

 physicists thought of applying. I have now to exhibit the 

 results which have rewarded the exertions of those who 

 have taken part in the various expeditions. 



There were so many observers, however, and the reports 

 already to hand are so voluminous, that it seems advisable 

 to make a selection of those results only which throw a new 

 light on problems of solar physics. Indeed, it chances 

 unfortunately that too many of the observations which were 

 made seem to have been intended to resolve problems 

 already long since disposed of. Precisely as we find that 

 the American observers in 1869 were for the most part little 

 familiar with the history of former eclipses, so during the 

 late eclipse the larger proportion of the observers would 

 appear to have been quite unprepared for phenomena which 

 have been described over and over again by the observers of 

 past eclipses. It would seem as though that preliminary 

 examination which the Astronomer Royal so earnestly advo- 

 cated as respects modes of observation, might also have 

 been well extended to the historical details of eclipses. 



Broadly stated, the object of the expeditions was the 

 determination of the real nature of the corona — that crown 

 of glory which never fails to make its appearance when the 



