344 
CAPTAIN L. DARWIN, DR. A. SCHUSTER, AND MR. E. W. MAUNDER 
The entii’e programme of the eclipse had also been rehearsed on two occasions, viz., 
the mornings of Thursday and Saturday, August 26 and 28. Friday, August 27, 
was wet. 
On the day of the eclipse the Sun rose behind cloud, and the sky was generally 
overcast, though with breaks here and there. A smart shower fell, shortly before the 
eclipse, which necessitated a hasty closing of the observing huts, but it passed off 
before totality began, and the total pliase was observed in what appeared to be an 
entirely clear space of sky. An alarm clock, ringing at every tenth second, was set 
up in the observing hut, and the timekeeper started the clock at the moment totality 
commenced, and called out at every tenth second the number of seconds yet remaining 
before the first re-appearance of Sun light. The clock face had been numbered for 
205 seconds, and the total phase was over about one second and a half after the last 
had been counted, so that, estimating half a second for the delay in starting the clock, 
the duration of totality must have been 3 minutes and 27 seconds. 
As totality approached I watched the Sun in the finder of my telescope, and gave 
the word Start the clock ” to the timekeeper as the last ray of Sun light disappeared. 
He started the striking-clock very promptly, and called the seconds very sharply and 
clearly throughout the eclipse. 
I drew back the slide of the camera of the two-prism spectroscope first, then that of 
the single-pi’ism spectroscope, and then proceeded to expose seven plates upon the 
corona itself with the five-foot camera, the several plates being exposed for the 
following' times :— 
O 
First nlate. 
j. • 
. . 0-2 
Second plate .... 
. . . 2-0 
Third plate .... 
. . 10-0 
Fourth plate .... 
. . 40-0 
Fifth plate. 
. . . 7-0 
Sixth plate. 
. . 4-0 
Seventh plate .... 
. . 0-2 
The fourth plate was exposed at the word “ 120 seconds,” i.e., 85 seconds after the 
commencement of totality, and closed at the word “SO seconds.” The seventh plate 
was exposed before the word “20 seconds.” It would have been quite possible to 
have obtained at least two more short exposure plates had I had them ready, but I 
had not judged it wise to attempt more than the seven of the original programme, as 
I had not been able to manage more than that number during the rehearsals, but I 
found that I was able to work more rapidly and collectedly during the eclipse itself 
than during the preliminary drills. 
At “10 seconds ” the timekeeper gave the word “ close cameras,” and I closed the 
single-prism spectroscope first, and the two-prism spectroscope afterwards. Both 
