23 6 Mr. Baily on the Solar Eclipse 
the eclipse happened prior to the invasion of the Scythians, 
who kept possession of his kingdom twenty-eight years ; and 
that, after the expulsion of those barbarians, he besieged and 
took the city of Nineveh, and thereby put an end to the Assy- 
rian empire. This, however, will not accord with the date 
here assigned : neither indeed will it suit any of the systems 
above alluded to ; except it be that of M. Volney, which 
may lay claim to some ingenuity. But his system is too much 
at variance with the astronomical fact to be entitled to any 
credit. 
It has been remarked by Dr. Halley ( Phil . Trans. Voh 
XXIX. p. 245), that “ though twenty-eight eclipses of the 
“ sun happen in eighteen years, and eight pass through the 
“ parallel of London, yet since March 20th, 1140, no total 
“ eclipse has been seen in that metropolis/' Indeed, so rare 
is this phenomenon in any particular country, that its occur- 
rence, when well authenticated, may be considered as an era 
which is less liable to mistakes or confusion, than any other 
event recorded in history. All attempts at imposition or de- 
ceit are easily detected by our knowledge of astronomy: and 
the unintentional errors of the historian are soon rectified and 
adjusted. On this account, and as the fact of the eclipse is so 
confidently related by Herodotus (indeed, its singular coin- 
cidence with the battle will ever render it memorable in 
history), I would place the termination of the war between 
Alyattes and Cyaxares, in the year 610 B. C. : and, if the 
other events of that period, as related by the historian, cannot 
be reconciled to this date, I should attribute the confusion to 
the want of authentic documents and information at the time 
that the history was written. 
