April 21, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



635 



THE TOTAL kiOLAR ECLIPSE OF AUGUST 

 29-30, 1905* 



The path of the shadow of the moon during 

 the eclipse of August 29-30, 1905, is con- 

 veniently accessible at several points; that 

 fact, together with the large duration for to- 

 tality which for the maximum is 3 minutes 

 45 seconds, renders the observation of this 

 eclipse desirable. 



A brief sketch of the location of the path 

 of the shadow will show the comparative ac- 

 cessibility of the different parts. In general 

 the width of the shadow path is approximately 

 120 geographic miles. 



The moon's shadow strikes the earth at sun- 

 rise in the province of Manitoba near the 

 south end of Lake Winnipeg. The shadow 

 sweeps eastwardly through the British posses- 

 sions, passing over the southern part of James 

 Bay and the peninsula of Labrador, and enters 

 the Atlantic Ocean about 100 miles north of 

 the eastern entrance of the Strait of Belleisle, 

 which separates Labrador from the island of 

 Newfoundland. After leaving the American 

 coast no land is met by the shadow until it 

 reaches the north coast of Spain, where the 

 middle of the shadow crosses the coast line 

 about 100 geographic miles west of the city 

 of Santander and sweeps southeastwardly 

 across the Spanish peninsula, leaving Madrid 

 ground that a male spermatozoon as well as a 

 female spermatozoon has entered the egg, the lat- 

 ter alone fusing with the egg nucleus. It might 

 appear that a count of the number of the chromo- 

 somes in the male and female parts of the body of 

 the gynandromorph would give an answer to the 

 problem ; for, on Boveri's view, the female-half 

 might be expected to contain twice as many 

 chromosomes as the male-half of the body. On 

 my view the same condition might be expected, 

 but if Petrunkewitsch's observations are correct, 

 there is a doubling of the chromosomes in the 

 later stages of the drone egg, and possibly the 

 same increase in the number of chromosomes 

 might happen in the descendants of the single 

 sjjerm nucleus or the half egg-nucleus. The con- 

 ditions were too uncertain to make an appeal of 

 this sort of any value at present, and the other 

 test that I have suggested offers apparently a 

 simpler and safer means of reaching a conclusion. 



* Circular of the U. S. Naval Observatory, 

 March 18, 1905. 



about 40 miles and Valencia about 2 miles 

 distant from the southern edge and outside of 

 the shadow path. Some of the cities within 

 the limits of the shadow path are Leon and 

 Burgos, not far from the central line, Valla- 

 dolid, near the southern edge, and Zaragoza, 

 near the northern edge, while the old city of 

 Sagunto lies about 20 miles within the south- 

 ern edge. The numerous railroads passing 

 into and through the shadow path afford a 

 means of access to observing stations from 

 ports on the Bay of Biscay or the Mediter- 

 ranean Sea. 



After leaving the Spanish coast the shadow 

 sweeps over the Columbretes, a group of small 

 islands, close to the central line and about 

 40 miles from the coast. The Columbrete 

 Grande, the largest of these islands, is less 

 than a half mile long and rises to an elevation 

 of 262 feet above the sea. This island is 

 crescent-shaped and affords an anchorage pro- 

 tected in every direction except the northeast. 



About sixty miles farther southeast the 

 shadow passes over two islands of the Balearic 

 group — Ivica, just within the southern edge, 

 and Majorca, within the northern edge — but 

 the only satisfactory harbor is the port of 

 Palma, on the southern shore of Majorca and 

 about 40 miles north of the central line. 



After crossing the Mediterranean Sea the 

 shadow strikes the African coast about mid- 

 way between the cities of Algiers and Tunis. 

 A railway line not more than 60 miles from 

 the coast, connecting the cities of Algiers and 

 Tunis, has various branches, by means of 

 which observing stations may be reached at 

 any desired distance from the central line of 

 the shadow path. 



In the vicinity of the shadow path several 

 ports are available for landing. The port of 

 Bona is located about 230 geographic miles 

 east of Algiers and about 120 miles west from 

 Tunis. It is supplied with a fine artificial 

 harbor of 195 acres with an inner basin of 25 

 acres. This port is now one of the best and 

 safest on the Mediterranean coast. It is vis- 

 ited annually by about 3,000 vessels and en- 

 joys telegraphic communication with Mar- 

 seilles and regular steamship connections 

 with France, Algiers and Tunis. 



