Obituary Notices. xxiii 
With telescope and chronometer at hand, he waited for the second 
which Sang foretold that the commencement of the wonderful 
phenomenon would take place. And, sure enough, the very 
moment which was predicted saw the beginning of the interference 
with the sun’s light. The firing of guns, the blowing of trumpets, 
the beating of drums and shouting now began, that being thought 
the only way to bring back the sun’s light and prevent the disasters 
which it was believed would certainly follow. The Sultan, at once 
sent out his officers to stop all that, and the end of Sang’s labours 
was accomplished by the dispelling of superstition and the quelling 
of the alarm which had always accompanied the natural but un- 
common deviation from the daily gradation of light and darkness. 
This was a triumph of science which had a lasting effect on the 
population of Constantinople, for it not. only removed in a great 
measure the superstition of the people, but also excited and stimu- 
lated the students to such a degree that it led to the details of the 
next eclipse of 1851 being computed and prepared by Sang’s fifth 
class, at the Imperial College,' Muhendis-hana Berri. 
In 1849 he was elected a Fellow of this, the Royal Society of 
Edinburgh, and there were few, perhaps, who took a keener interest 
in its proceedings. In 1851 he was invited by a circular of the 
British Association, sent at the instance of the secretary of the 
Royal Scottish Society of Arts, Edinburgh, to proceed to Russia 
for observing the total eclipse of the sun. The shortness of the 
notice, and the calmness of the weather during the voyage, pre- 
vented him from reaching farther than Sevastopol, where he 
arrived just when the eclipse began, so that he could do nothing ; 
and the only result of the trip was to intensify a longing to return 
to Scotland. There are few Scotsmen who go abroad but are at 
some period of their exile seized with nostalgia, and sometimes in 
such a fashion as not to be conquered. It was so in this case. He 
resigned his situation, greatly against the wish of Fethi Pasha, who 
would not give his formal consent. Nevertheless Sang returned 
to Edinburgh in 1854, and resumed his former occupation as a 
teacher of mathematics. 
During his residence in Constantinople he won the respect and 
esteem of all the various nationalities with whom he came in con- 
tact, notwithstanding the differences of religion and race, and 
