1868.] 



of the Solar Eclipse. 



79 



There is a curious coincidence which I may here mention, though I 

 imagine it can only be regarded as purely fortuitous, viz. that the flames 

 were almost exactly opposite the spots on the sun's disk. 



On the afternoon of the 18th, Captain Tanner and I went to Moolwar, 

 eighteen miles south of Beejapoor, where the German astronomers had put 

 up their instruments. We there learnt that they had only seen the eclipse 

 for less than 5 seconds during totality, and that through an upper stratum 

 of clouds which rendered photometric observations impracticable ; but we 

 were surprised to hear that neither a spectroscope nor a polariscope was 

 attached to either of their equatorial telescopes at the time of visibility, but 

 that both the observers with these instruments were intent on measuring the 

 heights of the flames. They determined the normal height of flame a to be 

 3 minutes ; but as they must have seen it at an earlier phase than Captain 

 Tanner and Mr. Kero Laxuman, it would appear slightly longer to them 

 than to us. 



It is very curious how the darkness during totality seems to have differed 

 in degree in different places. At Beejapoor we were told that down below 

 in the town the darkness was so great that it was not possible to see one's 

 own hand. We thought this account might be an exaggeration; but we 

 afterwards learnt that at Moolwar a gentleman dropped part of an eye- 

 piece of a telescope, and that it was not possible to find it even by placing 

 the eye close to the ground, until after the end of totality. 



"We have not had time during our continual travelling to compute the 

 elements of the eclipse for Beejapoor for ourselves ; and it might have 

 been waste of time to have done so before we started on our journey, 

 for we were uncertain of our being able to get so far south as Beeja- 

 poor ; but I give below a statement of elements for Beejapoor as com- 

 puted by Mr. Pogson, astronomer at Madras, and published in the 

 ' Times of India,' and with it the times as observed or estimated 

 by us. 





Mr. Pogson's 

 elements. 



Our 

 elements. 



Remarks. 



Angle from \ first contac! . . . 

 vertex of... J last contact... 



h m s 

 7 50 54 



9 2 9 



9 7 21 



10 28 44 

 1° right. 

 173° right. 



h m s 

 7 50 25 



9 1 49 



9 6 59 



10 28 14 



At vertex. "1 

 165° right. J 



Mean of two estimates. 

 Approximate. 

 Actually observed. 



?> » 

 Approximate. 



There was a difference in our times of last contact. Mr. Kero Laxuman 

 made it at 10 h 28 m 9 s ; I made it 10 h 28 m 14 s ,and Captain Tanner 10 h 28 m 17% 

 I was observing with the little theodolite, and distinctly saw the moon's 



