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XL On the Total Solar Eclipse of May 17, 1882. 
By Captain W. de W. Abney, R.E., F.R.S., and Arthur Schuster, PhD., F.R.S. 
Received April 9,—Read April 19, 1883. 
[Plate 13.] 
Part I. (Drawn up by Dr. Schuster.) 
I.— Introductory. 
The present paper contains an account of the photographic results obtained during 
the last total solar eclipse. The total number of photographs taken was six : three of 
these represent the corona itself, while on the three others photographic records of 
the spectrum of the prominences and the corona were secured. 
The expedition left England on the 19th of April and arrived at Suez on the 
evening of May 3, where they were received on behalf of the Khedive by Esmatt 
Effendi and by the Governor of Suez. The following day was taken up with the 
journey to Cairo. The members of the expedition were welcomed at the station by 
Stone Pasha to whose foresight and energy, as well as extensive knowledge of the 
country, all the members of the expedition were much indebted throughout the time 
of their sojourn in Egypt. It was chiefly owing to the preparations which General 
Stone had already made that the expedition was able to leave Cairo on the following 
evening, arriving at Siout early on the morning of May 6. Owing to the low state 
of the Nile it was impossible for the expedition to reach the site which had already 
been chosen for the observatory the same evening, but they arrived there the next 
morning. The French expedition, sent out by M. Bischoefsheim, was already on 
the spot, and on them had fallen the burden of choosing the site ; for as all the 
expeditions were to be the guests of the Khedive, a separation would have been 
inconvenient to our host, and would have had no advantages as the weather was safe 
within the belt of totality. We cannot help expressing our admiration for the 
excellent way in which the site of the observatory had been selected ; for not only 
did the result prove that the greatest length of totality had been secured, but local 
circumstances were well attended to, and the observatory was well protected against 
the dust, which formed the greatest danger to the success of the expedition. 
Colonel Mokhtar Bey had accompanied the English party to the observatory by 
