I87I.] 



Notices of Books. 



267 



following figure illustrates the great altitude of the larger 

 prominences very strikingly. 



The large disc on the left of the prominence represents the 

 comparative dimensions of Jupiter, while the uppermost of the 

 small discs within the prominence represents Mercury, the next 

 Venus, then the Earth and Moon, and the lowest Mars. A coloured 



Fig. 14. 



A group of solar prominences. — March 14, 1869, nh. 5m. (Lockyer.) 



plate (p. 272) represents the prominences as seen during the total 

 eclipse of August, 1868. The following figures represent a 

 group of prominences drawn by Mr. Lockyer, and the group only 

 ten minutes later. Dr. Zollner has also figured a number 

 of prominences, the most interesting of which are represented in 

 beautifully coloured plates. Professor Respighi has studied the 

 form and nature of the prominences even more fully than Zollner. 



Chapter 6 treats of " The Corona and Zodiacal Light." The 

 corona is the crown of light which surrounds the black disc of the 

 moon during a total eclipse ; it is first mentioned by Apollonius, 

 and later by Plutarch. A detail notice is given of eclipses in which 

 remarkable coronae have been observed, the most interesting 

 observation having perhaps been made in 1842 by Arago. 



In the next chapter the " Physical Condition of the Sun " 

 forms the subject of study, and this is followed by a short 

 chapter entitled "The Sun, our Fire, Light, and Life." The heat, 

 light, and chemical activity which we receive from the sua has 



