66 The Total Solar Echpse of 1900. 
Africa. The project of chartering a steamer had consequently to be abandoned, 
but the Committee recommended that observations of the eclipse should be 
undertaken, and that the Societies should provide the necessary instruments. 
Accordingly the Societies ‘placed at the disposal of the Committee a sum of 
money sufficient to procure certain of the instruments employed in the observa- 
tions described in this Report, and to cover the cost of freightage. These 
instruments will be available on future occasions, and it may confidently be 
hoped that other expeditions will take place under the auspices of the Royal 
Dublin Society and the Royal Irish Academy. 
Some of the apparatus was kindly lent by Sir Howard Grubb and by Mr. 
W. E. Wilson. There remain in the possession of the Societies two 8-in. mirror 
ccelostats and a photographic lens of 4 in. aperture and of 19 ft. 4 in. focal length. 
Selection of a Station. 
Owing to the protracted nature of the negotiations referred to in the last 
section, but little time was left for the preparation of the instruments and the 
choice of a station. Finally, the Committee gladly accepted the kind invitation 
of Senor Don Iniguez y Iniguez, Director of the Madrid Observatory, and resolved 
to occupy a station in proximity to that selected by the Spanish Government 
expedition from Madrid. The Spanish camp was situated on the summit of the 
little stony hill of Berrocalillo, about half an hour’s walk from the town of 
Plasencia, and the instruments of the Irish expedition were erected just below the 
summit on the southern slope. The longitude of the station is 6° 6’ 43”, and the 
latitude 40° 2'5”. Mr. Rudolf Grubb arrived in Plasencia early in May, to assist 
in the erection of the Spanish instruments and of the supports for our ccelostats. 
Our instruments did not reach the station until May 23rd, the day before we 
arrived. 
Our best thanks are due to Senor Iniguez and his colleagues for the great 
assistance they afforded us. Without their aid, and in the short time at our 
disposal, it would have been almost impossible for us to have erected our instru- 
ments in such an out-of-the-way place. They procured the services of the local 
carpenter for us, and we had the advantage of sharing the attention of the town- 
guard in keeping the camp free from trespassers. It is true that the situation 
was rather exposed and inconveniently distant from the town, and a strong wind 
on the day of the eclipse might have caused much mischief, especially as we were 
not provided with huts; but under the circumstances it was quite out of the 
question to select another camp and set about preparing new supports for the 
ceelostats. 
