﻿RED 
  PROMINENCES 
  SEEN 
  DURING 
  TOTAL 
  ECLIPSES 
  OF 
  THE 
  SUN. 
  473 
  

  

  nences, 
  — 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  adduced 
  in 
  proof 
  of 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  such 
  a 
  stratum 
  ; 
  

   but 
  no 
  such 
  inference 
  is 
  drawn 
  from 
  that 
  phenomenon. 
  

  

  Besides 
  this, 
  M. 
  Arago 
  supposes 
  that 
  the 
  clouds 
  forming 
  the 
  red 
  prominences 
  

   probably 
  occasion 
  the 
  isolated 
  spots 
  Avhich 
  have 
  no 
  central 
  nucleus 
  {penombres 
  

   isolees, 
  penonibres 
  sans 
  noyau) 
  ; 
  but, 
  as 
  he 
  immediately 
  adds, 
  that 
  those 
  spots 
  are 
  by 
  

   no 
  means 
  common, 
  and 
  when 
  they 
  occur, 
  occupy 
  but 
  an 
  inconsiderable 
  part 
  of 
  

   the 
  sun's 
  disc, 
  it 
  is 
  evident 
  that 
  he 
  must 
  conceive 
  the 
  clouds 
  which 
  form 
  them 
  to 
  

   be 
  isolated, 
  and 
  widely 
  scattered, 
  — 
  an 
  idea 
  quite 
  inconsistent 
  with 
  the 
  supposi- 
  

   tion, 
  that 
  they 
  form 
  a 
  continuous 
  envelope 
  surrounding 
  the 
  sun. 
  

  

  From 
  these 
  considerations, 
  it 
  appears 
  evident 
  that 
  M. 
  Arago's 
  hypothesis 
  re- 
  

   garding 
  the 
  red 
  prominences, 
  involves 
  simply 
  the 
  idea 
  that 
  those 
  objects 
  are 
  

   clouds 
  floating 
  in 
  the 
  sun's 
  atmosphere; 
  and 
  therefore, 
  that 
  his 
  opinion 
  is 
  the 
  

   same 
  as 
  Sir 
  John 
  Herschel's, 
  whose 
  views, 
  stated 
  at 
  p. 
  461, 
  form 
  the 
  ground- 
  

   work 
  of 
  the 
  hypothesis 
  I 
  have 
  now 
  proposed. 
  In 
  addition 
  to 
  the 
  idea 
  that 
  the 
  

   red 
  prominences 
  are 
  clouds, 
  — 
  which, 
  according 
  to 
  Humboldt, 
  was 
  first 
  announced 
  

   by 
  M. 
  Arago, 
  — 
  I 
  have 
  endeavoured 
  to 
  shew, 
  that 
  those 
  clouds 
  probably 
  form 
  a 
  

   continuous 
  envelope 
  surrounding 
  the 
  sun 
  ; 
  and 
  I 
  have 
  further 
  supposed 
  that 
  this 
  

   envelope 
  is 
  the 
  chief 
  agent 
  in 
  causing 
  the 
  diminished 
  brightness 
  of 
  the 
  sun's 
  disc 
  

   towards 
  the 
  edges, 
  — 
  that 
  when 
  apertures 
  occur 
  in 
  the 
  envelope, 
  they 
  possibly 
  con- 
  

   stitute 
  the 
  faculse 
  on 
  the 
  solar 
  disc, 
  — 
  and 
  that 
  those 
  apertures 
  also 
  occasion 
  the 
  

   bright 
  rays 
  in 
  the 
  corona 
  seen 
  during 
  total 
  eclipses 
  of 
  the 
  sun. 
  

  

  VOL. 
  XX. 
  PART 
  III. 
  6 
  L 
  

  

  