SOLAR KCLIPSL OF AUGUST 29, 1880. 
.‘•191 
7 21 45 
7 22 28 
7 23 15 
7 24 10 
7 24 42 
7 25 17 
<j still suspected, and I', 
h certainly visible. 
Cloudy. 
Clear again. 
No line visible. 
Cloudy for some time. 
In addition, I wrote the following note immediately afterwards :— 
“ Just before totality all the lines were glimpsed, but all were much shorter than 
was expected ; g and i were certainly seen before this, but no others. F was very 
bright from time noted, and prominent after totality. After totality was over, cloud 
still remained for nearly a minute. Then F line only was prominent, but g and k 
were afterwards seen ; i was not seen ; k appeared to remain longest.” 
The telescope used was one by Simms, of 6 in. aperture and 6 ft. focal length. To 
this was attached a grating spectroscope by Hilger ; collimator, 1^ in. aperture and 
18 in. focal length; telescope, 1-^ in. aperture and 9 in. focal length; magnifying 
power of eyepiece, 10. The grating kindly lent to me by Captain Abney was by 
Rutherfurd, and contained 17,200 lines to the inch. The second order of spectrum 
was used. 
It will be seen that these observations confirm Mr. Lockyer’s in only a few points. 
The phenomena were apparently of greater intensity in Egypt; the bright lines g and 
i appeared there 7 minutes before totality, the first of which I saw 3 minutes and the 
second only 30 seconds before totality. The second stage of the appearance of k and I 
in the Egyptian observations is not represented at all in my own, being indistinguish¬ 
able both from the third stage and from the general flashing out of many bright lines 
which took place just before totality, and is represented in my own notes by “ many 
lines appeared.” 
Bright lines are recorded after totality for nearly 6 minutes ; and, as the appearance 
of k was unexpected, it was looked at carefully, with the result noted, “ k certainly 
visible.” I could not help feeling some doubt afterwards as to the observation ; and 
it is possible that it is really spurious, and due to the straining of the eyes, to the 
imagination, or other causes. But it is only differentiated from the other observations 
by the fact of coming rather later in a somewhat exciting half-hour, and I have left 
the record untouched. It is perhaps only natural that the clear atmosphere of Egypt 
and the great altitude of tlie Sun, as compared with the vapour-laden ah’ of the 
West Indies and an altitude of only 18°, should modify the particular phenomena 
under discussion. And, again, it must be remembered that in 1882 the Sun’s activity 
was nearly at its maximum ; whereas in 1886, judging at least by the paucity of 
spots, the minimum was appearing somewhat prematurely. This may have had a 
considerable effect on these phenomena. 
This diminution of the period of time over which the phenomena were distributed, 
