﻿506 
  PROFESSOR 
  PIAZZI 
  SMYTH 
  ON 
  THE 
  

  

  effects 
  of 
  a 
  total 
  eclipse 
  ; 
  and 
  that 
  only 
  those 
  few 
  persons 
  who 
  have 
  actually 
  seen 
  

   it, 
  really 
  know 
  what 
  it 
  is 
  like. 
  The 
  phenomenon 
  therefore, 
  when 
  seen, 
  has, 
  by 
  its 
  

   unexpected 
  novelty, 
  such 
  a 
  power 
  of 
  enchantment, 
  as 
  to 
  hold 
  all 
  observers 
  spell- 
  

   bound. 
  

  

  If 
  astronomers, 
  however, 
  will 
  only 
  take 
  the 
  trouble, 
  they 
  may 
  learn 
  to 
  give 
  a 
  

   good 
  account 
  of 
  this 
  most 
  interesting 
  subject. 
  To 
  no 
  one 
  who 
  really 
  tries 
  to 
  learn 
  

   to 
  draw, 
  is 
  the 
  power 
  wholly 
  refused, 
  and 
  every 
  one 
  may 
  by 
  practice 
  improve 
  

   their 
  memory, 
  as 
  applied 
  to 
  drawing, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  to 
  anything 
  else. 
  The 
  test 
  

   of 
  the 
  proper 
  degree 
  of 
  skill 
  having 
  been 
  arrived 
  at, 
  would 
  be 
  the 
  taking 
  of 
  half- 
  

   a-dozen 
  views 
  of 
  the 
  progress 
  of 
  a 
  sunset, 
  during 
  a 
  certain 
  number 
  of 
  minutes 
  ; 
  

   while 
  to 
  copy 
  a 
  picture 
  after 
  a 
  one-minute 
  view 
  of 
  it, 
  would 
  give 
  the 
  means 
  of 
  as- 
  

   certaining 
  afterwards 
  what 
  were 
  the 
  probable 
  limits 
  of 
  that 
  person's 
  errors 
  in 
  

   light, 
  shade, 
  and 
  form, 
  without 
  some 
  estimation 
  of 
  which 
  no 
  astronomical 
  draw- 
  

   ing 
  should 
  be 
  considered 
  presentable. 
  No 
  drawing 
  can 
  be 
  made 
  perfect, 
  any 
  

   more 
  than 
  a 
  numerical 
  observation 
  can. 
  The 
  one 
  cannot 
  be 
  depended 
  on 
  to 
  the 
  

   minutest 
  feature 
  inserted 
  on 
  the 
  paper, 
  nor 
  the 
  other 
  to 
  the 
  smallest 
  fraction 
  of 
  

   a 
  division 
  read 
  off 
  from 
  the 
  instrument. 
  The 
  question 
  in 
  either 
  case 
  must 
  be, 
  

   what 
  is 
  the 
  extent 
  to 
  which 
  dependence 
  can 
  be 
  placed 
  ? 
  By 
  knowing 
  that 
  the 
  

   greatest 
  probable 
  error 
  of 
  Tycho 
  Brahe's 
  observations 
  was 
  3', 
  Kepler 
  proceeded 
  

   safely 
  to 
  deduce 
  the 
  elliptic 
  theory 
  of 
  the 
  planets 
  : 
  and 
  if 
  theories 
  are 
  ever 
  to 
  be 
  

   based 
  on 
  astronomical 
  drawings, 
  the 
  possible 
  limits 
  of 
  error 
  in 
  every 
  way 
  must 
  be 
  

   ascertained, 
  and 
  published 
  as 
  a 
  necessary 
  appendage 
  to 
  the 
  pictorial 
  representation. 
  

  

  I 
  will 
  not 
  presume 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  I 
  have 
  arrived 
  at 
  the 
  mark 
  which 
  is 
  here 
  pro- 
  

   posed 
  ; 
  but 
  I 
  have 
  practised 
  myself 
  in 
  drawing 
  from 
  memory, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  in 
  hasty 
  

   sketches 
  from 
  nature. 
  My 
  part, 
  however, 
  at 
  Bue 
  Island 
  , 
  was 
  with 
  a 
  telescope, 
  

   and 
  but 
  for 
  the 
  unexpected 
  clouding 
  of 
  the 
  sky, 
  I 
  might 
  have 
  seen 
  nothing 
  of 
  the 
  

   general 
  effects 
  ; 
  the 
  clouds, 
  however, 
  absolving 
  me 
  from 
  my 
  special 
  duty, 
  enabled 
  

   me 
  at 
  least 
  to 
  look 
  round, 
  and 
  I 
  hastily 
  made 
  pencil 
  sketches 
  of 
  what 
  I 
  saw. 
  

   These 
  were 
  coloured 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  possible 
  afterwards, 
  and 
  form 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  views, 
  

   shewing 
  the 
  varying 
  effects, 
  through 
  the 
  short 
  period 
  of 
  the 
  totality, 
  and 
  in 
  

   various 
  directions. 
  One 
  of 
  these 
  views 
  has 
  been 
  engraved 
  with 
  the 
  present 
  paper 
  

   (Plate 
  XIV.), 
  and 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  one 
  only 
  can 
  serve, 
  may 
  perhaps 
  tend 
  to 
  give 
  some- 
  

   thing 
  more 
  of 
  a 
  local 
  name 
  and 
  habitation 
  in 
  person's 
  minds, 
  to 
  the 
  verbal 
  de- 
  

   scriptions 
  of 
  which 
  there 
  have 
  been 
  many 
  good 
  ones 
  from 
  various 
  of 
  the 
  observers 
  

   of 
  1851. 
  

  

  I 
  will 
  only 
  therefore 
  add, 
  that 
  to 
  understand 
  the 
  scene 
  more 
  fully, 
  the 
  reader 
  

   must 
  fancy 
  himself 
  on 
  a 
  small 
  rocky 
  island, 
  on 
  a 
  mountainous 
  coast, 
  the 
  weather 
  

   calm, 
  and 
  the 
  sky, 
  at 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  eclipse, 
  T 
  7 
  S 
  covered 
  with 
  thin 
  and 
  bright 
  

   cirro-strati 
  clouds. 
  As 
  the 
  eclipse 
  approaches, 
  the 
  clouds 
  gradually 
  darken, 
  the 
  

   rays 
  of 
  the 
  sun 
  are 
  no 
  longer 
  able 
  to 
  penetrate 
  through 
  and 
  through, 
  and 
  drench 
  

   them 
  in 
  living 
  light 
  as 
  before 
  ; 
  but, 
  as 
  with 
  clouds 
  on 
  an 
  evening 
  sky, 
  they 
  become 
  

  

  