328 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
carefully rehearsed. Mr. Henry devoted his attention to beating 
seconds with the chronograph key, which duty he performed 
with the greatest steadiness and precision; Mr. Ashcroft, keep- 
ing a watch on the mechanism, to see that the tape did not run 
foul, and that the adjustments were such as to produce a distinct 
record. Mr. McKay, the district surveyor, very kindly took 
general supervision of the time, writing down each minute as it 
passed, and being ready to call the seconds aloud if any mis- 
chance took place with the chronograph, and Major Kedell, 
R.M., who has great facility as a shorthand writer, kindly under- 
took to note any remarks I might make during the observation. 
During the night the barometer commenced to fall and the 
temperature to rise, a sure indication of a change to N. W. wind, 
but the sky remained clear until 11 pm. At 4 a.m.on the 7th 
dense black clouds covered the whole of the sky, and the upper 
current of air was from N. W., the lower being still from S. 
This was the first cloudy morning I had experienced at Clyde, 
except a few during the previous week arising from extensive 
bush fires, all of which had been extinguished by the rainfall of 
the 3rd. 
At 6 a.m. the wind changed to N.W., and the clouds began to 
dissolve towards the S.E., leaving patches of blue sky that spread 
only very slowly towards the quarter we desired ; and it was not 
until 7 o’clock that there was the slightest hope of getting an 
observation, but just then the sun showed out over Alexandra, 
which is 7 miles to the S.E. The sky then cleared very rapidly, 
and at 7.12 I got the first glimpse of the sun with the 60 eye- 
piece. On changing the eye-piece the planet was then seen to 
be about one diameter within the sun’s limb. As soon as the 
last shred of the cloud passed, all boiling of the sun’s edge 
cleared, and it was more sharp and steady than I had ever before 
seen it. 
The markings of the sun’s disc were very distinct, and I 
tested my focus on a small circular spot that was seen very 
obliquely close to the eastern edge of the sun. The power used 
was 200 with two thicknesses of the tinted glass. The field was 
very bright, but there was no discomfort or irradiation. 
No trace of a halo or indefinite outline was seen round the 
planet, which looked intensely black and seemed as if immersed 
in the substance of the sun. By altering the focus slightly, how- 
ever, the planet could be made to appear as if in relief. 
The onward creeping motion of the planet was remarkably 
steady, and the sun’s edge was so sharply defined that I was 
fully expecting to get a good observation. When I judged that 
it wanted about two minutes of Internal Contact, I signalled to 
commence beating, and the tape showed the first beat to have 
been 28’ 30", which is the time of the appearance marked on 
sketch A. 
