One other point and we have disposed of eclipses of the Moon. The shadow which we see creeping over the Moon during an eclipse is, as we know, the shadow cast by the Earth. If we notice it attentively we shall see that its outline is curved, and that it is in fact a complete segment of a circle. Moreover that the circularity of this shadow is maintained from first to last so far as we are able to follow it. What is this, then, but a proof of the rotundity of the earth? This shape of the Earth's shadow on the Moon during a lunar eclipse was suggested as a proof of the rotundity of the Earth by two old Greek astronomers, Manilius and Cleomedes, who lived about 2000 years ago, and is one more illustration of the great powers of observation and the general acuteness of the natural philosophers of antiquity.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 112: The time occupied by the Moon in passing through the penumbra, before and after a lunar eclipse, will generally run to about an hour for each passage. It will occasionally happen that the Moon gets immersed in a penumbra but escapes the dark shadow. Such an event will not be announced in the almanacs under the head of "Eclipses."]

[Footnote 113: See p. 197 (post).]

[Footnote 114: The shadow is spoken of as being in the form of a cone because it is necessarily such on account of the light-giving disc of the Sun being so enormously larger in diameter than the light-receiving sphere of the Moon. This idea can be pursued by any reader with the aid of a lamp enclosed in a glass globe and an opaque sphere such as a cricket ball.]

[Footnote 115: See p. 19 (ante).]

[Footnote 116: As to occultations see chap. xxi. (post).]

[Footnote 117: Month. Not., R.A.S., vol. viii. p. 132. March, 1848.]

[Footnote 118: A very striking chromolithograph of the lunar eclipses of Oct. 4, 1884, and Jan. 28, 1888, showing the contrast of—(1) an almost invisible grey Moon, and (2) a reddish-pink Moon, will be found in the German astronomical monthly, Sirius, vol. xxi. p. 241. Nov. 1888.]

[Footnote 119: Month. Not., R.A.S., vol. xlv. p. 35.]

[Footnote 120: Month. Not., R.A.S., vol. xlviii. p. 227. March 1888.]

[Footnote 121: p. 197 (post).]



CHAPTER XVI.

ECLIPSES OF THE MOON MENTIONED IN HISTORY.

We saw in a previous chapter that we owe to the Chinese the first record of an eclipse of the Sun. It must now be stated that the same remark applies to the first recorded eclipse of the Moon, and Prof. S. M. Russell is again our authority. He refers to a book called the Chou-Shu or book of the Chou Dynasty, said to have been found in 280 A.D. in the tomb of an Emperor who lived many centuries previously. In this book it is stated that in the 35th year of Wen-Wang on the day Ping-Tzu there was an eclipse of the Moon. Russell finds that this event may be assigned to January 29, 1136 B.C., and that the eclipse was total.

Next after this Chinese eclipse, in point of time, come several eclipses recorded by Ptolemy, on the authority of records collected or examined by himself. The three earliest of these came from Chaldaean sources.

The first of these eclipses was observed at Babylon, in the 27th year of the era of Nabonassar, the 1st of the reign of Mardokempadius, on the 29th of the Egyptian month Thoth, answering to March 19, 721 B.C. The eclipse began before moonrise, and the middle of the totality appears to have occurred at 9h. 30m. p.m. The other two eclipses, also observed at Babylon, occurred on March 8, 720 B.C., and September 1, in the same year, respectively.

Three other lunar eclipses, recorded by Ptolemy, assisted Sir I. Newton in fixing the Terminus a quo from which the "70 weeks" of years were to run which the prophet Daniel[122] predicted were to elapse before the death of Christ. This Terminus a quo dates from the Restoration of the Jews under Artaxerxes, 457 B.C. The three eclipses which Newton made use of were those of July 16, 523, November 19, 502, and April 25, 491 B.C.

Aristophanes, in "The Clouds" (lines 561-66), makes an allusion to which has been supposed (but probably without adequate warrant, in Spanheim's opinion), to refer to an eclipse of the Moon. The eclipse, October 9, 425 B.C., has, moreover, been suggested as that referred to, but the whole idea seems to me too shadowy.

An eclipse of the Moon took place in the 4th year of the 91st Olympiad, answering to August 27, 413 B.C., which produced very disastrous consequences to an Athenian army, owing to the ignorance and incapacity of Nicias, the commander. The army was in Sicily, confronted by a Syracusan army, and having failed, more or less, and sickness having broken out, it was decided that the Athenians should embark and quit the island. Plutarch, in his Life of Nicias, says:—"Everything accordingly was prepared for embarkation, and the enemy paid no attention to these movements, because they did not expect them. But in the night there happened an eclipse of the Moon, at which Nicias and all the rest were struck with a great panic, either through ignorance or superstition. As for an eclipse of the Sun, which happens at the Conjunction, even the common people had some idea of its being caused by the interposition of the Moon; but they could not easily form a conception, by the interposition of what body the Moon, when at the full, should suddenly lose her light, and assume such a variety of colours. They looked upon it therefore as a strange and preternatural phenomenon, a sign by which the gods announced some great calamity." And the calamity came to pass, but only indirectly was it caused by the Moon!

Plutarch and Pliny both mention that eleven days before the victory of Alexander over Darius, at Arbela in Assyria, there was an eclipse of the Moon. Plutarch's words (Life of Alexander) are, that "there happened an eclipse of the Moon, about the beginning of the festival of the great mysteries at Athens. The eleventh night after that eclipse, the two armies being in view of each other, Darius kept his men under arms, and took a general review of his troops by torch-light." This seems to have led to a great deal of disorderly tumult in the Assyrian camp, a fact which was noticed by Alexander. Several of his friends urged him to make a night attack on the enemy's camp, but he preferred that his Macedonians should have a good night's rest, and it was then that he uttered the celebrated answer, "I will not steal a victory." Plutarch enters upon some rather interesting moral reflections connected with this answer, but which of course are foreign to the subject of this volume. This eclipse happened on September 20, 331 B.C., and was total, the middle of the eclipse being at about 8.15 p.m. It follows therefore, that the celebrated battle of Arbela was fought on October 1, 331 B.C.

In 219 B.C. an eclipse of the Moon was seen in Mysia, according to Polybius.[123] The date of September 1 has been assigned for this eclipse which is said to have so greatly alarmed some Gaulish Mercenary troops in the service of Attalus, King of Pergamos, that he had to get rid of them as soon as he could—make terms with them to go home.

On the eve of the battle of Pydna when Perseus, King of Macedonia, was conquered by Paulus AEmilius, there happened an eclipse of the Moon. Plutarch in his Life of Paulus AEmilius, speaking of his army having settled down in a camp, says:—"When they had supped and were thinking of nothing but going to rest, on a sudden the Moon, which was then at full and very high, began to be darkened, and after changing into various colours, was at last totally eclipsed. The Romans, according to their custom, made a great noise by striking upon vessels of brass and held up lighted faggots and torches in the air in order to recall her light; but the Macedonians did no such thing; horror and astonishment seized their whole camp, and a whisper passed among the multitude that this appearance portended the fall of the king. As for AEmilius, he was not entirely unacquainted with this matter; he had heard of the ecliptic inequalities which bring the Moon at certain periods under the shadow of the Earth and darken her till she has passed that quarter of obscurity and receives light from the Sun again. Nevertheless, as he was wont to ascribe most events to the Deity, was a religious observer of sacrifices and of the art of divination, he offered up to the Moon 11 heifers as soon as he saw her regain her former lustre. At break of day he also sacrificed oxen to Hercules to the number of 20 without any auspicious sign, but in the twenty-first the desired tokens appeared and he announced victory to his troops, provided they stood upon the defensive."

The astronomical knowledge ascribed in this account to Paulus AEmilius, constitutes a very interesting feature in this record because the Romans though they were good at most things, were by no means adepts at the science of Astronomy. Livy[124] tells us that Sulpicius Gallus, one of the Roman tribunes, foretold this eclipse, first to the Consul and then, with his leave, to the army, whereby that terror which eclipses were wont to breed in ignorant minds was entirely taken off and the soldiers more and more disposed to confide in officers of so great wisdom and of such general knowledge. This eclipse is often identified with that of June 21, 168 B.C., but Johnson gives reasons why this cannot be the case and that the eclipse in question was that which happened on the night of June 10-11, 167 B.C., and commenced about midnight, whereas the eclipse of 168 B.C. was nearly over when the Moon was above the horizon at Rome. Stockwell, however, fixes on the eclipse of September 3, 172 B.C. as that which was connected with the Battle of Pydna.

Josephus[125] speaking of the barbarous acts of Herod, says:—"And that very night there was an eclipse of the Moon." There has been some controversy respecting the identification of this eclipse (the only one mentioned by Josephus) which also is associated with Herod's last illness, it not having been easy to reconcile some discordant chronological statements connected with the length of Herod's reign and the date when he began to reign. On the whole, probably, we shall be safe in saying that the reference is to the eclipse of March 13, 4 B.C. This was a partial eclipse to the extent of less than half the Moon's diameter, a defalcation of light sufficient, however, to attract public notice even at 3 a.m., seeing that no doubt, even at that hour, the streets of Jerusalem were in a state of turmoil owing to the burning alive by Herod of some seditious Rabbis.

It should be stated, however, that Hind assigns the account by Josephus to the eclipse which occurred on January 9, 1 B.C. On this occasion the Moon passed nearly centrally through the Earth's shadow soon after midnight, emerging at 2.57 a.m. on the early morning of January 10, local Mean Time at Jerusalem.

Tacitus[126] mentions an eclipse of the Moon as having happened soon after the death of Augustus. This has been identified with the eclipse of September 27, A.D. 14. Tacitus says:—"The Moon in the midst of a clear sky became suddenly eclipsed; the soldiers who were ignorant of the cause took this for an omen referring to their present adventures: to their labours they compared the eclipse of the planet, and prophesied 'that if to the distressed goddess should be restored her wonted brightness and splendour, equally successful would be the issue of their struggle.' Hence they made a loud noise, by ringing upon brazen metal, and by blowing trumpets and cornets; as she appeared brighter or darker they exulted or lamented."

There was an eclipse of the Moon on the generally recorded date of the Crucifixion of our Lord, April 3, A.D. 33. Hind found that our satellite emerged from the Earth's dark shadow about a quarter of an hour before she rose at Jerusalem (6h. 36m. p.m.), but the penumbra continued upon her disc for an hour afterwards.

On Jan. 1, A.D. 47, a total eclipse of the Moon was seen at Rome, and on the same night an island rose up in the AEgean Sea.

The total eclipse of Feb. 22, A.D. 72, noted by Pliny,[127] is the first in which it is recorded that Sun and Moon were both visible at the same time, the eclipse occurring when the Sun was rising and the Moon setting.

Trithenius speaks of an eclipse of the Moon observed in the time of Merovaeus. Johnson identifies it with the eclipse of Sept. 15, 452 A.D. It was from Merovaeus that the line of French kings known as Merovingians received their name.

On April 16, A.D. 683, according to Anastasius the Papal historian, the Moon for nearly the whole night exhibited a blood-red appearance, and did not emerge from obscurity till cockcrowing.

In A.D. 690 an eclipse of the Moon was observed in Wales. We are told[128] that "the Moon was turned to the colour of blood." This would seem to be the first eclipse of the Moon recorded in Britain.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us that in A.D. 734 "the Moon was as if it had been sprinkled with blood, and Archbishop Tatwine and Beda died and Ecgberht was hallowed bishop." The intended inference apparently is that the Moon had something to do with the deaths of the two ecclesiastics, but this theory will not hold water. Beda, it may be remarked, is the correct name of the man generally known to us as the "Venerable Bede." It is evident that from the description of the Moon it exhibited on that occasion the well-known coppery hue which is a recognised feature of many total eclipses of our satellite. This eclipse occurred on January 24, beginning at about 1 a.m.

On the night of January 23, A.D. 753, "the Moon was covered with a horrid black shield." This is the record of an eclipse. It occurred at about midnight, and apparently we are entitled to infer that on this occasion the Moon disappeared altogether, instead of being discoverable during the total phase by exhibiting a coppery hue.

In A.D. 755 [or 756 in orig.], on November 23, there happened an exceedingly interesting event which stands, I think, without a precedent in the annals of science—an eclipse of the Moon contemporaneous with an occultation of a planet by the Moon. This singular combination is thus described in the annals of Roger de Hoveden[129]:—"On the 8th day before the Calends of December the Moon on her 15th day being about her full, appeared to be covered with the colour of blood, and then the darkness decreasing she returned to her usual brightness; but, in a wondrous manner, a bright star followed the Moon, and passing across her, preceded her when shining, at the same distance which it had followed her before she was darkened." The details here given are not astronomically quite correct, but let that pass; the writer's intention is fairly clear. Calculation shows that the eclipse occurred on November 23, and that the planet, which was Jupiter, was concealed in the evening by the Moon for about an hour from 7h. 30m. to 8h. 30m. p.m., the immersion taking place about the end of the total phase. This is the first occultation of a star or planet by the Moon observed and recorded in England.

Under the year 795 the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says:—"In this year the Moon was eclipsed between cockcrowing and dawn on the 5th of the Calends of April; and Eardwalf succeeded to the kingdom of the Northumbrians on the 2nd of the Ides of May." This signifies that the eclipse happened on March 28 between 3h. and 6h. in the morning, the method of dividing the hours of night into equal portions of three hours each being still in use. There was no eclipse in 795 on the date in question but there was one in 796, so we may suppose an error in the year. This assumed, Johnson found that the eclipse began at about 4h. a.m., was total for nearly an hour, and ended at about 71/2h., so that the Moon set eclipsed. But the above assumption is dispensed with by Lynn who substitutes one of his own.[130] For "5th of the Calends" he reads "5th of the Ides," which means April 9; and on that day in 795 he says there was an eclipse of the Moon, but I have not found any other record of it.

In the year A.D. 800, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, "the Moon was eclipsed at the 2nd hour of the night (8h. p.m.) on the 17th day of the Calends of February." Johnson finds that there was an eclipse of the Moon on Jan. 15. The middle of the eclipse occurred at 8h. 34m., 9/10ths of the Moon's upper limb having been obscured.

Under the date of 806 the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says:—"This year was the Moon eclipsed on the Kalends [1st] of September; and Eardwulf, King of the Northumbrians, was driven from his kingdom, and Eanberht, Bishop of Hexham, died." This eclipse was total, the totality lasting from 9h. 37m. to 10h. 59m. p.m.

On Feb. 15, 817, according to the Annales Fuldenses, an eclipse of the Moon was observed in the early evening at Paris, and on the same night a Comet was seen. This Comet is described by another authority as a "monstrous" one and as being in Sagittarius on Feb. 5. The Chinese date it for Feb. 17, and place it near the stars [Greek: alpha] and [Greek: gamma] Tauri.

In 828 two lunar eclipses were seen in Europe, the first on July 1 very early in the morning, and the second on the morning of Christmas Day. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle thus speaks of the second eclipse:—"In this year the Moon was eclipsed on Mid-winter's Mass-night, and the same year King Ecgbryht subdued the kingdom of the Mercians and all that was South of the Humber." The totality occurred after midnight. There is some confusion in the year of this eclipse, the Chronicle giving it as 827, whilst calculation shows that it must have been 828. Lynn defines "Mid-winter's Mass-night" as Christmas Eve.

Under the date of 904 the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says:—"In this year the Moon was eclipsed." There were two total eclipses of the Moon this year, one on May 31, and the other on Nov. 25, and it does not appear which one is referred to in the Chronicle cited. Another writer, Cedrenus, speaks of a great eclipse of the Moon this year which he says foretold the death of a kinsman of the Emperor.

On October 6, 1009, there was a total eclipse of the Moon which presumably is referred to in the statement that "this year the Moon was changed into blood."

On Nov. 8, 1044, there was a large partial eclipse in the morning. Raoul Glaber[131] (a French chronicler who died about 1050) comments upon it thus:—"In what manner it happened, whether a prodigy brought to pass by the Deity or by the intervention of some heavenly body, remains known to the author of knowledge. For the Moon herself became like dark blood, only getting clear of it a little before the dawn." Truly those times were the "Dark Ages" in which ignorance and folly were rampant, seeing that more than 1000 years previously the Greeks knew all about the causes of eclipses.

Under 1078 the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says:—"In this year the Moon was eclipsed 3 nights before Candlemas, and AEgelwig, the 'world-wide' Abbot of Evesham, died on St. Juliana's Mass-day [Feb. 16]; and in this year was the dry summer, and wildfire came in many Shires and burned many towns." Johnson found that a total eclipse of the Moon happened in the early evening of Jan. 30.

On May 5, 1110, in the reign of Henry I., there occurred a total eclipse of the Moon during which, says the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, "the Moon appeared in the evening brightly shining and afterwards by little and little its light waned, so that as soon as it was night it was so completely quenched that neither light nor orb nor anything at all of it was seen. And so it continued very near until day, and then appeared full and brightly shining. It was on this same day a fortnight old. All the night the air was very clear, and the stars over all the heaven were brightly shining. And the tree-fruits on that night were sorely nipt." The totality occurred before mid-night. It is evident that this was an instance of a "black" eclipse when the Moon becomes quite invisible instead of shining with the familiar coppery hue.

In 1117 there were two total eclipses, the first on June 16, and the second on December 10. The latter is thus referred to in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:—"In the night of the 3rd of the Ides of December the Moon was far in [during a long time of] the night as if it were all bloody, and afterwards eclipsed." The totality commenced at 11.36 p.m.

It is recorded by Matthew Paris[132] in connection with the death of Henry I. that "the Moon also was eclipsed the same year on the 29th of July" [1135]. These words seem to indicate a total eclipse of the Moon. Johnson gives the date as Dec. 22, 1135. If this is correct the text of the Chronicle must be corrupt. The whole eclipse was not visible in England, the Moon setting before the middle of the eclipse. Stephen had been crowned king the same day, namely Dec. 22.

On June 30, 1349, there was a total eclipse of the Moon visible at London to which some interest attaches. Archdeacon Churton[133] connects it with the following incident:—"The worthy Abp. Bradwardine, who nourished in the reign of the Norman Edwards, and died A.D. 1349, tells a story of a witch who was attempting to impose on the simple people of the time. It was a fine summer's night, and the Moon was suddenly eclipsed. 'Make me good amends,' said she, 'for old wrongs, or I will bid the Sun also to withdraw his light from you.' Bradwardine, who had studied the Arabian astronomers, was more than a match for this simple trick, without calling in the aid of the Saxon law. 'Tell me,' he said, 'at what time you will do this, and we will believe you; or if you will not tell me, I will tell you when the Sun or the Moon will next be darkened, in what part of their orb the darkness will begin, how far it will spread, and how long it will continue.'"

An eclipse of the Moon which happened when Columbus was at the Island of Jamaica proved of great service to him when he was in difficulties owing to the want of food supplies which the inhabitants refused to afford. The eclipse was a total one, and so far as the description goes the eclipses of April 2, 1493, and March 1, 1504, both respond to the recorded circumstances: both were total and both occurred soon after sunset. But, inasmuch as in the life of Columbus written by his son the incident is placed nearly at the end of the work, there can be no doubt that it is the later of the above eclipses which was the one in question. The story is very graphically told by Sir A. Helps[134] in the words following:—

"The Indians refused to minister to their wants any longer; and famine was imminent. But just at this last extremity, the admiral, ever fertile in devices, bethought him of an expedient for re-establishing his influence over the Indians. His astronomical knowledge told him that on a certain night an eclipse of the Moon would take place. One would think that people living in the open air must be accustomed to see such eclipses sufficiently often not to be particularly astonished at them. But Columbus judged—and as the event proved, judged rightly—that by predicting the eclipse he would gain a reputation as a prophet, and command the respect and the obedience due to a person invested with supernatural powers. He assembled the caciques of the neighbouring tribes. Then, by means of an interpreter, he reproached them with refusing to continue to supply provisions to the Spaniards. 'The God who protects me,' he said, 'will punish you. You know what has happened to those of my followers who have rebelled against me; and the dangers which they encountered in their attempt to cross Haiti, while those who went at my command made the passage without difficulty. Soon, too, shall the divine vengeance fall on you; this very night shall the Moon change her colour and lose her light, in testimony of the evils which shall be sent upon you from the skies.'

"The night was fine: the moon shone down in full brilliancy. But at the appointed time the predicted phenomenon took place, and the wild howls of the savages proclaimed their abject terror. They came in a body to Columbus and implored his intercession. They promised to let him want for nothing if only he would avert this judgment. As an earnest of their sincerity they collected hastily a quantity of food and offered it at his feet. At first, diplomatically hesitating, Columbus presently affected to be softened by their entreaties. He consented to intercede for them; and, retiring to his cabin, performed, as they supposed, some mystic rite which should deliver them from the threatened punishment. Soon the terrible shadow passed away from the face of the moon, and the gratitude of the savages was as deep as their previous terror. But being blended with much awe, it was not so evanescent as gratitude often is; and henceforth there was no failure in the regular supply of provisions to the castaways."

Tycho Brahe observed a lunar eclipse on July 7, 1590. He writes:—"In the morning about 33/4h. the Moon began to be eclipsed: in this eclipse it is notable that both luminaries were at the same time above the horizon; a like case which Pliny cites. For the centre of the Sun emerged when the Moon was 2 deg. elevated above the Western horizon, and when her centre was setting, the centre of the Sun was elevated nearly 2 deg.."[135]

On August 16, 1598, there occurred a total eclipse of the Moon, observed by Kepler,[136] in which during totality a part of the Moon was visible and the rest invisible. He says, that while one-half of the disc was seen with great difficulty the other half was discernible by a deep red light of such brilliancy that at first he was doubtful whether our satellite was immersed in the Earth's shadow at all. This is an instance of the simultaneous operation of those causes (whatever they may be) which result in a totally-eclipsed Moon being sometimes wholly invisible and sometimes entirely visible as a copper-coloured disc.

An eclipse of the Moon which happened on the morning of July 6, 1610, may be mentioned as having been the first to be viewed through a telescope. The eclipse was only a large partial one. The following record of the fact is due to Tycho Brahe.[137] "The beginning of the eclipse of the Moon as observed through the Roman telescope, appeared like a dark thread in contact with the shadow"—a description which cannot be said to be unduly explicit.

In 1620, on June 15, there was a total eclipse of the Moon, when during the total phase "the Moon was seen with great difficulty. It shone, moreover, like the thinnest nebula, far fainter than the Milky Way, without any copper tinge. About the middle of the second hour nothing at all could be seen of the Moon with the naked eye, and through the telescope so doubtfully was anything seen that no one could tell whether the Moon was not something else." It is expressly stated, however, that the sky was quite clear. Kepler also observed this eclipse, and says that the Moon quite disappeared, though stars of the 4th and 5th magnitudes were plainly visible.[138] In this same year 1620, there was on December 9 another total eclipse, when "the Moon altogether disappeared so that nothing could be seen of it, though the stars shone brightly all around: she continued lost and invisible for a quarter of an hour more or less." This observation seems to have been made at Ingolstadt.

Wendelinus mentions the eclipse of April 14, 1623, in connection with the question of the visibility of the Moon when totally eclipsed. He says, "but sometimes it so far retains the light derived from the Sun that you would doubt whether any part of it were eclipsed." This eclipse was observed by Gassendi, and if the above record is correct, it is the more remarkable seeing that the eclipse was not total, only 11/12ths of the Moon's diameter being obscured.

On April 25, 1642, on the occasion of a total eclipse, Hevelius[139] noted that the Moon wholly disappeared when immersed in the Earth's shadow. Crabtree is stated by Flamsteed[140] to have observed this eclipse, but he does not plainly state that he lost sight of the Moon. Crabtree or his editor dates this eclipse for April 4; Ferguson for April 15. There appears to be some muddle as between "old style" and "new style." Ferguson professing to be N.S. is evidently wrong. Hevelius gives the double date, 15/25, which is evidently right.

On June 16, 1666, the Moon was seen in Tuscany to rise eclipsed, the Sun not having yet set in the W.

On May 26, 1668, an eclipse of the Moon was in progress in the early morning, when the Sun was seen to rise by members of the Academy of Sciences who were observing the phenomenon at Montmartre near Paris.

On December 23, 1703, the Moon when totally immersed was seen at Avignon showing a ruddy light of such brilliancy that we are told it had the appearance of a transparent body illuminated by a light placed behind. Johnson finds that the total phase took place in the early morning, and lasted from 5h. 36m. to 7h. 22m. a.m.

The lunar eclipse of May 18, 1761, as observed by Wargentin,[141] at Stockholm, furnishes a remarkable instance of the invisibility of the Moon on certain occasions, when completely immersed in the earth's shadow. The total immersion of the Moon took place at 10h. 41m. p.m. The part of the margin of the lunar disc which had last entered the shadow was fairly conspicuous for 5 or 6 minutes after the immersion, and to the naked eye exhibited a lustre equal to that of a star of the 2nd magnitude; but at 10h. 52m. this part, as well as the whole of the rest of the Moon's body, "had disappeared so completely, that not the slightest trace of any portion of the lunar disc could be discerned either with the naked eye or with the telescope, although the sky was clear, and the stars in the vicinity of the Moon were distinctly visible in the telescope." After more than half an hour's search, Wargentin at length discovered the whereabouts of the Moon by means of a faint light, which was visible at the Eastern edge of the disc. A few minutes afterwards, some persons of acute vision were able to discern, with the naked eye, a trace of the Moon, looking like a patch of thin vapour, but more than half the disc was still invisible.

An eclipse of the Moon, on March 29, 1801, was observed by Humboldt, on board ship, off the Island of Baru, not far from Cartagena de las Indias, in the Caribbean Sea.[142] He remarks that he was "exceedingly struck with the greater luminous intensity of the Moon's disc under a tropical sky than in my native North." Johnson makes Humboldt to refer to the greater clearness of the "reddened disc," but these words do not appear either in the German or in the English version.

A total eclipse of the Moon occurred on June 10, 1816. As observed by Beer and Maedler and others, the Moon completely disappeared. The summer of 1816, be it remembered, was very wet, and probably this had something to do with the Moon's invisibility at the eclipse in question.

On October 13, 1837, there happened a total eclipse of the Moon, of which Sir J. Herschel and Admiral W. H. Smyth have left us interesting accounts.[143] The changes of tint, both as regards times and places on the Moon's disc, recorded by the latter, are very remarkable. And the tints themselves varied very much inter se: The Admiral speaks of "copper," "sea-green," "neutral tint," and "silvery," as hues visible in one part of the Moon or another, and at one time or another.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 122: Dan. ix. 24.]

[Footnote 123: Histories, Book v., chap. lxxviii.]

[Footnote 124: Hist. Rom., Lib. xliv., cap. 37.]

[Footnote 125: Antiq., Lib. xvii., cap. 6, sec. 4.]

[Footnote 126: Annales, Lib. i., cap. 28.]

[Footnote 127: Nat. Hist., Lib. ii., cap. 3.]

[Footnote 128: Annales Cambriae, Rolls ed., p. 8.]

[Footnote 129: Annales, Rogerus de Hoveden, Bohn's ed., p. 5.]

[Footnote 130: Observatory, vol. xv. p. 224. May 1892.]

[Footnote 131: Historiarum sui Temporis, Lib. v., cap. 3.]

[Footnote 132: Chronica Majora, Rolls ed., edited by the Rev. H. R. Luard, vol. ii. p. 161. Another version of this work is in circulation under the name of Rogerus de Wendover, Flores Historiarum. The passage here quoted appears in vol. i. p. 482, Bohn's ed.]

[Footnote 133: History of the Early English Church, 1870 ed., p. 271.]

[Footnote 134: Life of Columbus, p. 247.]

[Footnote 135: Historia Coelestis, vol. i. p. xci.]

[Footnote 136: Astronomiae Pars Optica, p. 276; Opera Omnia, vol. ii. p. 302; Frisch's edition.]

[Footnote 137: Historia Coelestis, vol. ii. p. 921.]

[Footnote 138: Epitomes Astronomiae, p. 825; Opera Omnia, vol. vi. p. 482; Frisch's edition.]

[Footnote 139: Selenographia, p. 117.]

[Footnote 140: Historia Coelestis, vol. i. p. 4.]

[Footnote 141: Phil. Trans., vol. lii. p. 210. 1762.]

[Footnote 142: Cosmos. Trans. Sabine, vol. iii. p. 356; vol. iv. p. 483. Bohn's ed.]

[Footnote 143: Cycle of Celest. Obj., vol. i. p. 144; transcribed in G. F. Chambers's Handbook of Astronomy, vol. i. p. 329.]



CHAPTER XVII.

CATALOGUES OF ECLIPSES: AND THEIR CALCULATION.

This must of necessity be a brief chapter, so far as mere lines of text are concerned, but it will not on that account be unimportant. It will be evident to the reader that many more eclipses of interest have happened, and will happen, than it has been possible to speak of in these pages. Accordingly, as it is one of the main objects of this series of volumes to create a thirst for knowledge, to be satisfied by the study of other and bigger volumes, it will be desirable to furnish a list of some of the various books and publications, in which eclipses will be found catalogued or described in detail, so that readers desirous of pursuing the matter further, may possess facilities for doing so.

By far the most complete and comprehensive catalogue of solar eclipses is that prepared some years ago by an Austrian astronomer, the late Theodore Von Oppolzer of Vienna, and published under the title of Canon der Finsternisse, in the Memoirs of the Imperial Academy of Sciences.[144] This work supplies approximate calculations of about 8000 eclipses of the Sun, for a period of more than 3000 years, from November 10, 1207 B.C. (Julian Calendar), to November 17, 2161 A.D. (Gregorian Calendar). There are appended 160 charts, of all the principal eclipses; but as the charts only exhibit the beginnings, middles, and ends of the eclipses dealt with, they are frequently misleading, because the intermediate lines of path are, in many cases, more or less considerably curved.

Another very important and comprehensive catalogue of eclipses, solar and lunar together, will be found in the well-known French work, L'Art de verifier les Dates,[145] compiled by a member of the religious order of St. Maur. One volume of this famous work contains eclipses from the year 1001 B.C. to the Christian Era, whilst another volume gives a similar catalogue from the year 1 A.D. to 2000 A.D. The other volumes deal with chronological matters only. Although not strictly a work of extreme astronomical exactness, yet L'Art de verifier les Dates stands unrivalled as a record not only to subserve the purpose indicated by its title, but of the bare facts of the eclipses which have happened during the period of 3000 years stated above.

There has not been much done in England in the way of publishing eclipse records or tables, past or future, but in the British Almanac and Companion for 1832 there is given a catalogue, which was useful in its day, of eclipses, then future from 1832 to 1900, omitting, however, solar eclipses hardly visible to any inhabited portion of the Earth, and lunar eclipses where the part of the Moon's diameter obscured was less than 1/12th.

In by-gone days several attempts were made to gather together in a tabular or paragraph form the details of eclipses which had happened, and some of these have been important sources of information for the guidance of us moderns. Foremost amongst these efforts must be named the Almagestum Novum of J. B. Ricciolus.[146] This work contains a catalogue of eclipses observed from 772 B.C. to A.D. 1647, and continued in tables to A.D. 1700. It is prefaced (pp. 286-8) by a long series of quotations from classical authors relating to eclipses, some few of which have already been mentioned in these pages.

Kepler paid much attention to eclipses, and left behind him a large mass of notes and original observations. These will be found chiefly in his Astronomiae Pars Optica, c. vii. Sec. 2, originally published at Frankfurt in 1604. The most convenient and accessible edition of this is to be found in Frisch's reprint of all Kepler's works.[147]

Tycho Brahe also gathered together from various sources many observations of eclipses, and combined them with a number of his own, the whole being published in his Historia Coelestis.[148] Tycho Brahe was a very interesting personage in spite of the fact that he went all astray on the subject of the system of the Universe, and he well deserves, what has been given to him, a book[149] all to himself. It is peculiarly appropriate that I should give him a good word in this little volume on eclipses, because it was the solar eclipse of Aug. 21, 1560, which first seriously led him to take up astronomical pursuits, he being then 14 years of age, and struck with wonder that eclipses could be predicted.

A vast amount of historical and other information respecting eclipses will be found in a book, the latinised name of whose author is Sethus Calvisius. The title of the work is Opus Chronologicum.[150] The historical matter is very much mixed, but the eclipses can be got hold of through the Index, which is very full. P. Gassendi,[151] a well-known astronomer of the 17th century, left behind him observations of many eclipses observed by himself between 1628 and 1655. In a book entitled An Introduction to Universal Geography,[152] one Nicolas Struyck in the middle of the 18th century published a very full array of eclipse observations collected with infinite pains from an endless variety of authors ancient and modern.

In 1757 the well-known James Ferguson reprinted in his Astronomy,[153] but in a very condensed form, all Struyck's eclipses from 721 B.C. to A.D. 1485. Then he carried on his catalogue to 1800 by means of the materials furnished by Ricciolus and L'Art de verifier les Dates. Ferguson also invented a machine for illustrating mechanically the circumstances of an eclipse. He called it the "Eclipsareon." A full description is given in his book, mentioned above, but I do not know whether any such instrument is still in existence, or, if so, where it is to be found.

Ferguson apologises[154] for the incompleteness of his eclipse information in the following words:—"I have not cited one half of Ricciolus's list of portentous eclipses, and for the same reason that he declines giving any more of them than what that list contains, namely, that 'tis most disagreeable to dwell any longer on such nonsense, and as much as possible to avoid tiring the reader. The superstition of the ancients may be seen by the few here copied. My author further says that there were treatises written to show against what regions the malevolent effects of any particular eclipse was aimed, and the writers affirmed that the effects of an eclipse of the Sun continued as many years as the eclipse lasted hours, and that of the Moon as many months."

The most comprehensive (indeed almost the only) modern English book on eclipses is the Rev. S. J. Johnson's,[155] of which frequent use has already been made in these pages. It contains a vast amount of matter put together in a condensed form but the references to authorities are rather defective and deficient. Less comprehensive in one sense yet exceedingly valuable and interesting as a succinct summary of solar eclipse knowledge up to the date of 1896 is Mrs. D. P. Todd's excellent little volume[156] which has been several times quoted on previous pages. On various occasions in 1890 and following years Professor J. N. Stockwell contributed to the American Astronomical Journal a number of papers[157] discussing in a very interesting and exhaustive manner many of the eclipses recorded by the ancient classical authors. These papers should be consulted by all who desire to realise the value of eclipse records in connection with mundane chronology.

The calculation of eclipses is a matter of some interest. It is beyond the scope of the present work to explain even in outline the methods in use, but with the aid of the books mentioned below[158] a reader possessed of the necessary time, mathematical knowledge, and patience, will be able to pursue this matter as far as his inclination may lead him. Johnson has found very useful the tables given in the eighth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (Article, "Astronomy") but strange to say these tables do not appear in ninth edition of that famous work.

Lalande[159] has given numerous references to eclipses of the Sun during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries which may be useful to those who wish to work at the history of eclipses.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 144: Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, vol. lii. Vienna, 1887.]

[Footnote 145: There are several editions of this work in circulation. The first (published in 1783) was in folio volumes, but the best known edition is in a large number of octavo volumes published in 1818 and following years. The eclipse lists will be found in the 1st volumes of the first and second series respectively. The French astronomer, Pingre, is responsible for them.]

[Footnote 146: Published at Bononia (Bologna) in 1653.]

[Footnote 147: Omnia Opera, vol. ii. pp. 311-16. Edited by Ch. Frisch. 8 vols. 8vo. Frankofurti-a-M., 1857-60.]

[Footnote 148: A collected edition of Tycho Brahe's works, edited by "Lucius Barettus," was published at Augustae Vindilicorum (Augsburg) in 1666. Lucius Barettus is an anagram for the real name Albertus Curtius.]

[Footnote 149: J. L. E. Dreyer, Tycho Brahe: a Picture of Scientific Life and Work in the Sixteenth Century.]

[Footnote 150: Opus Chronologicum. Francofurti ad Moenum, 1650.]

[Footnote 151: Astronomica, vol. iv. Lugduni, 1657.]

[Footnote 152: Inleiding tot de Algemeene Geographie. Amsterdam, 1740.]

[Footnote 153: Astronomy Explained upon Sir Isaac Newton's Principles. 2nd ed. 4to, pp. 167-79. London, 1757.]

[Footnote 154: Astronomy, p. 178.]

[Footnote 155: Historical and Future Eclipses. 2nd Ed., 1896.]

[Footnote 156: Total Eclipses of the Sun. Boston, U.S., 1894.]

[Footnote 157: Astronomical Journal, vol. x. pp. 25, 185; vol. xi. pp. 5, 28, 57; vol. xii. p. 121; vol. xiii. p. 73; vol. xv. p. 73; vol. xvi. pp. 89, 175.]

[Footnote 158: J. Ferguson. Op. cit.; W. D. Snooke, Brief Astronomical Tables for the Expeditious Calculation of Eclipses, 8vo. Lond. 1852.]



CHAPTER XVIII.

STRANGE ECLIPSE CUSTOMS.

I had intended heading this chapter "Eclipse Customs amongst Barbarous Nations," but in these days it is dangerous to talk of barbarians or to speak one's mind on points of social etiquette so I have thought it well to tone down the original title, otherwise I should have the partisans of the "Heathen Chinee" holding me up to scorn as a reviler of the brethren.

Did space permit a very interesting record might be furnished of eclipse customs in foreign parts.

An eclipse happened during Lord Macartney's embassy to China[160] which kept the Emperor and his Mandarins for a whole day devoutly praying the gods that the Moon might not be eaten up by the great dragon which was hovering about her. The next day a pantomime was performed, exhibiting the battle of the dragon and the Moon, and in which two or three hundred priests, bearing lanterns at the end of long sticks, dancing and capering about, sometimes over the plain, and then over chairs and tables, bore no mean part.

Professor Russell, who is quoted elsewhere in this work with respect to Chinese eclipses, makes the following remarks in regard to what happens now in China when eclipses occur:—"It will be interesting here to note that, even at present, by Imperial command, special rites are performed during solar and lunar eclipses. A president from each of the six boards, with two inferior officials, dressed in their official clothes, proceed to the T'ai-Ch'ang-Ssu. When the eclipse begins they change their robes for common garments made of plain black material, and kneeling down, burn incense. The president then beats one stroke on a gong, and the ceremony is taken up by all the attendant officials."

A writer in Chambers's Journal[161] in an article entitled "The Hindu view of the late Eclipse," gives an interesting and original account of divers Hindu superstitions and ceremonies which came under his notice in connection with the total eclipse of the Sun of Aug. 18, 1868. He remarks that "European science has as yet produced but little effect upon the minds of the superstitious masses of India. Of the many millions who witnessed the eclipse of the 18th of August last there were comparatively few who did not verily believe that it was caused by the dragon Rahu in his endeavour to swallow up the Lord of Day.... The pious Hindu, before the eclipse comes on, takes a torch, and begins to search his house and carefully removes all cooked food, and all water for drinking purposes. Such food and water, by the eclipse, incur Grahana seshah, that is, uncleanness, and are rendered unfit for use. Some, with less scruples of conscience, declare that the food may be preserved by placing on it dharba or Kusa grass," and much more to the like effect is duly set out in the interesting article cited.

During the total eclipse of the Sun of Aug. 7, 1869, the following incident is noted[162] to have occurred at a station on the Chilkaht river, in Alaska, North America, frequented by Indians:—

"About the time the Sun was half obscured the chief Koh-Klux and all the Indians had disappeared from around the observing tent; they left off fishing on the river banks; all employments were discontinued; and every soul disappeared; nor was a sound heard throughout the village of 53 houses. The natives had been warned of what would take place, but doubted the prediction. When it did occur they looked upon me as the cause of the Sun's being 'very sick and going to bed.' They were thoroughly alarmed, and overwhelmed with an undefinable dread."

A still more thrilling incident is thus recorded[163] of the eclipse of July 29, 1878, by a witness at Fort Sill, Indian Territory, U.S.:—

"On Monday last we were permitted to see the eclipse of the Sun in a beautiful bright sky. Not a cloud was visible. We had made ample preparation, laying in a stock of smoked glass several days in advance. It was the grandest sight I ever beheld, but it frightened the Indians badly. Some of them threw themselves upon their knees and invoked the Divine blessing; others flung themselves flat on the ground, face downward; others cried and yelled in frantic excitement and terror. Finally one old fellow stepped from the door of his lodge, pistol in hand, and fixing his eyes on the darkened Sun, mumbled a few unintelligible words and raising his arm took direct aim at the luminary, fired off his pistol, and after throwing his arms about his head in a series of extraordinary gesticulations retreated to his own quarters. As it happened, that very instant was the conclusion of totality. The Indians beheld the glorious orb of day once more peep forth, and it was unanimously voted that the timely discharge of that pistol was the only thing that drove away the shadow and saved them from the public inconvenience that would have certainly resulted from the entire extinction of the Sun."

A certain Mr. F. Kerigan, in a book published in 1844, made the following remarks on ancient Jewish ideas respecting eclipses:—

"The Israelites, like their benighted neighbours, esteemed an eclipse of either luminary as a supernatural and inauspicious omen, which filled them with the most gloomy and fearful apprehensions: as may fairly be deduced from the 8th chapter of Ezekiel, v. 15: 'Then he brought me to the door of the Lord's House, which was towards the N.; and, behold there sat women weeping for Tammuz.' Now Tammuz is the name under which Adonis was known in Palestine: he was the favourite of Venus, or Astarte, the principal goddess of the Philistines and Phoenicians. Being killed by a wild boar, the prevailing superstition of the age induced the uninformed multitude to believe that when the Moon was eclipsed, it was in complement to their beloved goddess Venus or Astarte, who, concealed behind the full Moon, sat weeping under a dark veil for the loss of her beloved Tammuz or Adonis."[164]

The African travellers, R. and J. Lander, have given[165] a graphic account of what took place on the occasion of the eclipse of the Moon of Sept. 2, 1830, as witnessed by themselves:—"The earlier part of the evening had been mild, serene, and remarkably pleasant. The Moon had arisen with uncommon lustre, and being at the full, her appearance was extremely delightful. It was the conclusion of the holidays, and many of the people were enjoying the delicious coolness of a serene night, and resting from the laborious exertions of the day; but when the Moon became gradually obscured, fear overcame every one. As the eclipse increased they became more terrified. All ran in great distress to inform their sovereign of the circumstance, for there was not a single cloud to cause so deep a shadow, and they could not comprehend the nature or meaning of an eclipse.... Groups of men were blowing on trumpets, which produced a harsh and discordant sound; some were employed in beating old drums, others again were blowing on bullocks' horns.... The diminished light, when the eclipse was complete, was just sufficient for us to distinguish the various groups of people, and contributed in no small degree to render the scene more imposing. If a European, a stranger to Africa, had been placed on a sudden in the midst of the terror-struck people, he would have imagined himself to be among a legion of demons, holding a revel over a fallen spirit."

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 159: Bibliographie Astronomique. Paris, 1803. Indexed at p. 938.]

[Footnote 160: Authentic Account of an Embassy to China, by Sir G. Staunton.]

[Footnote 161: Fourth Series, vol. v. p. 676. October 24, 1868.]

[Footnote 162: Report U.S. Coast Survey, 1869, p. 179.]

[Footnote 163: Letter published in the Philadelphia Inquirer.]

[Footnote 164: A Practical Treatise on Eclipses, p. 2.]

[Footnote 165: Journal of an Expedition to Explore the Niger, vol. i. p. 366.]



CHAPTER XIX.

ECLIPSES IN SHAKESPEARE AND THE POETS.

The sound of these words may be large but facts do not bear out the theory, for eclipses do not appear to have captivated our great poets to anything like the extent that Moon, Stars, and Comets have done.

Shakespeare has a few allusions to eclipses, but they are not of prime importance. In Macbeth we find:—

"And slips of yew Shivered in the Moon's eclipse" —Act iv. sc. 1.

the precise meaning of which is not very obvious. "Shivered" of course means divided into pieces, but the idea intended is obscure.

The next quotation is more comprehensive and reflects more plainly the current of thought prevalent in Shakespeare's day, albeit here again the word "eclipse" will be found to stand without much definite connection with what goes before. However the reader shall judge for himself:—

"As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood, Disasters in the Sun; and the moist star, Upon whose influence Neptune's Empire stands, Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse." —Hamlet, act i. sc. 1.

In King Lear we seem to come upon something very definitely historical, but I am not able to say what it is. The Earl of Gloster says:—

"These late eclipses in the Sun and Moon portend no good to us."

With this, Edmund, Gloster's son, apparently agrees, for he exclaims:—

"These eclipses do portend these divisions." —Act i. sc. 2.

In Othello, the Moor of Venice himself, in a moment of excitement, says:—

"O, insupportable! O, heavy hour! Methinks it should be now a huge eclipse Of Sun and Moon, and that the affrighted globe Should yawn at alteration." —Act v. sc. 2.

In Anthony and Cleopatra we find Anthony expressing what our forefathers so often thought in connection with astronomical matters:—

"Alack, our terrine Moon is now eclipsed; And it portends alone The fall of Anthony!" —Act iii. sc. 11.

Milton has an allusion to an eclipse of the Sun which possesses a two-fold interest—intrinsic and extrinsic. The former feature will be self-evident when the passage is read. The poet, in describing[166] the faded splendour of the fallen archangel, compares him to the Sun seen under circumstances which have temporarily deprived it of its normal brilliancy and glory:—

"As when the Sun new-risen Looks through the horizontal misty air Shorn of his beams, or, from behind the Moon In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds On half the nations, and with fear of change Perplexes Monarchs."

It has been well said by Dr. Orchard[167] that "this passage affords us an example of the sublimity of Milton's imagination and of his skill in adapting the grandest phenomena of nature to the illustration of his subject."

What I alluded to in saying that extrinsic interest attached to this quotation, is the fact that these lines might have caused the suppression of the poem as a whole. Mrs. Todd puts the matter thus:—"Paradise Lost was begun probably in 1658, although not finished until 1663, nor its thorough revision completed until 1665. The censorship still existed, and Tomkyns (one of the chaplains through whom the Archbishop gave or refused license), although a broader-minded man than many of his day, found this passage especially objectionable. The poem was allowed to see the light only through the interposition of a friend of Milton. Upon such slender chances may hang the life of an incomparable work of art! But it is easy to see that in the turbulent days when Charles the Second had returned to power, after the death of Cromwell, these lines should have been deemed dangerously suggestive, in imputing to monarchs 'perplexity' and 'fear of change.'"

Other allusions to eclipses by Milton will be found as follows:—

Through the air she comes, "Lur'd with the smell of infant blood, to dance With Lapland witches, while the labouring Moon Eclipses at their charms." —Paradise Lost, Bk. ii. lines 663-6.

"So saying, he dismiss'd them; they with speed Their course through thickest constellation held, Spreading their bane; the blasted stars look'd wan, And planets, planet-struck, real eclipse, Then suffer'd." —Paradise Lost, Bk. x. lines 410-14.

"O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of Noon, Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse, Without all hope of day!" —Samson Agonistes, Lines 80-2.

"It was that fatal and perfidious bark, Built in th' eclipse, and rigg'd with curses dark, That sunk so low that sacred heart of thine." —Lycidas, Lines 100-2.

Pope, in the following lines, may be presumed to mean that the covering up of the Sun by the Moon, during a total eclipse, results in the Moon becoming visible, at the cost of the Sun's disappearance:—

"For Envy'd wit, like Sol eclips'd, makes known Th' opposing body's grossness, not its own." —Essay on Criticism, Lines 469-70.

I have not attempted to pursue this matter through the pages of our modern poets, but it is not unlikely that Scott and Tennyson (especially) would have something on the subject of eclipses.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 166: Paradise Lost, Book i., lines 594-9.]

[Footnote 167: The Astronomy of Milton, p. 259.]



CHAPTER XX.

BRIEF HINTS TO OBSERVERS OF ECLIPSES OF THE SUN.

A few words (they must be few for lack of space) may usefully be added, by way of advice, to persons proposing to choose a suitable locality at which to station themselves for viewing a total eclipse of the Sun. To begin with, of course they ought to get as close as possible to the central line, say within 10 or 20 miles at the most; this matter settled, the next important point is to find out where the duration of the totality will be longest, coupled with the Sun at its maximum elevation above the horizon (to escape the influence of mists and fogs). No advice, properly so-called, can be given on these points, because they depend on the special circumstances of every eclipse, and must be ascertained ad hoc from the Nautical Almanac.

In anticipation of a forthcoming eclipse, it is very important to know beforehand the probabilities of weather. If the locus in quo of an expected eclipse is in a civilised country, there will generally not be much difficulty in obtaining a certain amount of information as to this 6 or 12 months in advance. But inasmuch as total eclipses of the Sun, and often the best of them, are visible only in uncivilised countries or over trackless wastes, the problem becomes a complicated and anxious one. In such cases it is exceedingly desirable, where competent observers (including money) are available, that preliminary notes of weather should be made for a year or even two years in advance. There is in one sense no difficulty as to this, for all the mathematical local elements of every eclipse are always made public three or four years in advance through the pages of books like the Nautical Almanac, the Connaissance des Temps, the Berliner Jahrbuch, &c. One difficulty always confronts every eclipse expedition. If an out-of-the-way part of the world has to be visited, accessible by sea, transport from England, say, to the foreign shore is not usually a matter of difficulty, because Government ships are often placed at the disposal of astronomers. But the gravest difficulties often have to be faced after the arrival at the foreign shore, and for this reason. Every sea coast is, as a general rule applicable to the whole world, bad for astronomical observations. The problem then which has to be solved is, how best to get away from the coast inland to a high hill, and to find the means of transporting thither heavy packing-cases of instruments, personal luggage, creature comforts, and, if needs be, tents and the other accessories of camp life. Let not the reader of either sex take fright at the idea of sleeping under a tent. I speak with considerable experience when I say that, given fine or fairly fine weather, nothing is more enjoyable in a temperate climate. Under the term "creature comforts" I mean such things as tinned soups and preserved provisions which nowadays can so easily be purchased everywhere in England, and of such good quality. I would recommend these being taken even when the eclipse traveller expects to be lodged in the dwelling-places of civilised nations. Of course, if in order to see his eclipse he has to go into the wilds of America, Asia, or Africa, he must start fully equipped with all those personal impedimenta which will be found scheduled in the books mentioned in the footnote.[168]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 168: The Tourists' Pocket-Book, 1s. (Philip); F. Galton's Art of Travel, 7s. 6d. (Murray); Royal Geographical Society's Hints to Travellers, 5s. (R. G. S., Savile Row). &c.]



CHAPTER XXI.

TRANSITS AND OCCULTATIONS.

No book professing to deal with eclipses would be complete without a few words of mention of "transits" and "occultations." A transit is the passing of a primary planet across the Sun, or of a secondary planet (i.e. satellite) across its primary, whilst an occultation is the concealment of a star by the Moon, or of a secondary planet (i.e. satellite) by its primary. A little thought given to this definition will make it clear that a transit is essentially the same in principle as an eclipse of the Sun by the Moon—one body comes in front of another, and the former conceals in succession parts of the latter.

Practically the word "transit" in this connection is more especially applied to passages of the inferior planets, Mercury and Venus, across the Sun, or of the satellites of Jupiter across the disc of Jupiter, whilst the word "occultation" more particularly calls to mind the concealment of a star (apparently a little body) by the Moon (apparently a big body) or of a satellite of Jupiter (a little body) by Jupiter (a big body), the star and the satellite in each respective case passing behind the occulting body and being concealed for a shorter or longer time. Commonly the occulted body will remain hidden for an hour or two, more or less. In the case of Jupiter the satellites of that planet may also, on occasions, be seen to undergo eclipse in the shadow cast by Jupiter itself. An eclipse of a Jovian satellite is therefore on all fours in principle the same as an eclipse of the Moon, caused, as we know, by the Moon passing for a short time into the dark shadow cast by the Earth. The conditions just laid down in respect of Jupiter and its satellites also find a counterpart in the case of the satellites of Saturn, but whilst these phenomena are incessantly occurring and visible in the case of Jupiter, they are exceedingly rare in the case of Saturn owing to its greater distance and the difficulty of seeing most of its satellites because of their small apparent size.

Having regard to the circumstance that transits of Mercury and Venus only happen at intervals of many years, it is not worth while for the purposes of this work to devote any great amount of space to them. In point of fact, whilst the next three transits of Mercury are as remote as 1907, 1914 and 1924, there will be no transit of Venus at all during the 20th century; not another indeed until A.D. 2004.

From the standpoint of an amateur astronomer the various phenomena which attend the movements of the satellites of Jupiter, constitute an endless variety of interesting scenes, which are the more deserving of attention in that they can be followed with the aid of a telescope of very moderate size and capabilities.[169]



Occultations of planets and stars by the Moon may also be recommended to the notice of the owners of small telescopes as events which are constantly happening and which may be readily observed. The Moon being rapidly in motion it will happen in point of fact that stars are occulted by it, one may say every day, but of course the Moon's light entirely blots out the smaller stars and only those as large as, say, about the 5th magnitude are as a rule worth trying to see in this connection. A table of the occultations of such stars, copied from the Nautical Almanac, will be found in such almanacs as Whitaker's and the British. If such a table is consulted it will be found that never does a lunation pass without a few stars being noted as undergoing occultation, and now and then a planet. An occultation of a planet is obviously still more interesting than that of a star.



From the epoch of New to Full Moon the Moon moves with its dark edge foremost from the epoch of Full to New with its illuminated edge foremost. During therefore the first half of a lunation the objects occulted disappear at the dark edge and reappear at the illuminated edge, during the second half of a lunation things are vice versa. The most interesting time for watching occultations is with a young Moon no more than, say, from 2 to 6 days old, because under such circumstances the star occulted is suddenly extinguished at a point in the sky where there seems nothing to interfere with it.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 169: For details as to these matters, see my Handbook of Astronomy, 4th ed., vol. i. pp. 186-196.]



APPENDIX.

THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN OF MAY 28, 1900.

This Appendix deals solely with geographical and transport matters as to which accurate information is not easily obtainable, the European locus in quo of the Eclipse being in the benighted and somewhat untravelled countries of Portugal and Spain.

The intending Eclipse excursionist must first make his choice between (practically) a journey of all sea or of all land. The several sea routes are one and all very much cheaper than any possible land journey, and almost as quick in point of time, with the minimum amount of personal knocking about. But (some persons will say) sea is sea, and so it is. On the other hand the land journey is exceedingly expensive; and beyond France the trains are very incommodious as regards hours, speed, and connections. Moreover, there being more frontiers than one to cross, there are extra opportunities for Custom-house squabbles, and Spain especially is famous for this sort of thing.

As the Eclipse shadow will strike Europe in Portugal and quit Europe in Spain the intending traveller must first decide for himself whether he will prefer to go to Portugal or Spain. This settled, he will have the choice of several sea routes and, in particular, of two land routes. But before considering these further it will be well to state what are the chief of the various places which are available as observing stations for mixed travelling parties of ladies and gentlemen who have no desire to rough it in out-of-the-way parts of the country.

The line of central eclipse passes across the Peninsula diagonally from N.W. to S.E. It enters Portugal on the coast not far from Oporto in latitude 40 deg. 50' N., longitude 8 deg. 38' W. of Greenwich. It quits Spain on the coast at Cape Santa Pola, not far from Alicante, in latitude 38 deg. 13' N., longitude 0 deg. 30' W. At Ovar in Portugal (pop. 11,000), 23m. S. of Oporto the duration of the total phase will be 1m. 331/2s., and the Sun's altitude at totality will be 42 deg.. At Talavera de la Reina in Spain (pop. 9700) the duration will be 1m. 271/2s., and the altitude 39 deg.; whilst at Alicante (pop. 40,000) the duration will be still less, 1m. 19s., and the Sun's altitude only 34 deg.. The three towns of Ovar, Talavera and Alicante are selected Nautical Almanac Eclipse stations, for which special calculations have been made.

Hotel accommodation may be had at all the foregoing places, Oporto, Ovar, Talavera and Alicante, as will be stated later on, but the Hotels at Ovar and Talavera are not of much account.

Other towns more or less handy for the central line are few in number, and as a rule deficient in lodging accommodation conforming to the English standard. Amongst such possible alternative places the following may be named (in order of position from N.W. to S.E.) as accessible by railway:—

VIZEU (pop. 7000; hotels, Mabilia, Cadite), on a branch of the Beira Alta Railway 31m. from Santa Comba Dao Junction, which itself is 88m. from Oporto.

MANGUALDE (pop. 3000), on the Beira Alta Railway, 115m. from Oporto, and 49m. from Pampilhosa Junction.

PLASENCIA (pop. 6000; hotel, F. de Eusebio Sierra), 6m. N. of the station of that name on the Lisbon and Madrid Railway.

NAVALMORAL (pop. 3300, buffet), a station on the Lisbon and Madrid Railway about 8m. W. of the central line of eclipse.

URDA, a small station on the Madrid and Ciudad Real Railway, crossed by the central line. The nearest accommodation would seem to be at Ciudad Real (pop. 14,000; hotel, Baltasar Garcia), 33m. to the S.

ALCAZAR DE SAN JUAN Junction (pop. 8400; good buffet; hotel, Casa Briseno). Alcazar is 92m. S. of Madrid; the central line crosses the railway about 15m. to the S. of the town.

TOBARRA (pop. 7500), a station on the Chinchilla and Cartagena Railway, 212m. S. of Madrid, and 115m. N. of Cartagena, lies about 6m. S. of the central line.

NOVELDA (pop. 8000), a station on the Alicante and Madrid Railway, in a beautiful valley about 20m. N. of Alicante.

In addition to the above places it must not be forgotten that both Oporto at one end of the zone of totality and Alicante at the other are within the track of the shadow, but the question of the meteorological conditions of the atmosphere at these places (on the seaboard as they virtually are) has to be considered.

A traveller from England to Portugal or Spain by sea has the following choice of routes:—

1. Southampton to Oporto, fortnightly, on Fridays, by the steamers of the "Royal Mail Steam Packet Co." Fare, first-class return, about L11. Time, about 54h. The return tickets are conveniently grouped in various ways, e.g. Southampton to Oporto, and back from Vigo or Lisbon; or Southampton to Lisbon and back, or back from Vigo (but not back from Oporto). Where the booking is to Vigo, or Lisbon, of course the local railway fares have to be paid in addition. Lisbon is 209m. S. of Oporto; Vigo, 110m. N. of Oporto. One objection to making any use of Vigo is the extra Custom-house formalities which have to be gone through on the frontier, and Spanish Custom-house officials are specially objectionable.

2. Liverpool to Corunna, Carril, Vigo and Oporto, fortnightly, on Thursdays, by the steamers of the "Pacific Steam Navigation Co." Fares, to the Spanish ports, first-class single, L6, 10s., return, L9, 15s.; second-class single, L4. To the Portuguese ports, first-class single, L8, return, L12; second-class single, L5. Time, about 4 to 5 days. This does not mean that the steamers are very slow, but they call also at La Rochelle, in France.

3. London (Irongate Wharf) to Oporto, at intervals of 3 weeks, on Thursdays, by the steamers of the "General Steam Navigation Co." Fares, first-class single, L4 (no return tickets issued; no second-class). The steamers of this line are inferior to all the others.

4. London (Tilbury) to Gibraltar, weekly, on Thursdays, by the "P. & O." steamers. Fares, first-class single, L10, return, L16. Time, 4 to 5 days.

5. London (Tilbury) and Plymouth to Gibraltar, fortnightly, on Fridays, by the steamers of the "Orient Co." Fares and time the same as the "P. & O."

Travellers journeying to Oporto from England will probably not attempt to do any more local sight-seeing than what can be readily accomplished by simple railway trips in Portugal to or from Lisbon; but travellers landing at Gibraltar will have it within their power to visit some of the important towns of Southern Spain, such as Granada, Seville, Cordova, Toledo, Cadiz, Malaga, &c.

An Eclipse excursionist who finds himself at Gibraltar, and who wishes to avoid as much as possible land travelling in Spain by going on to Alicante and stationing himself in that neighbourhood, must take shipping locally at Gibraltar. There are Spanish steamer services from Gibraltar, and Malaga, to Alicante.

An overland traveller to Spain (it is presumed that none such will go as far as Portugal) has the choice of two routes to eclipse stations in Spain, both starting from Paris:—(1) via Bordeaux, Hendaye, Vittoria, Burgos and Medina del Campo, to Madrid, and thence either W. to Talavera (84m. from Madrid), or S. towards Alcazar de San Juan (92m. from Madrid); (2) via Lyons, Perpignan, Barcelona and Valencia to Alicante. The character of the train service on the second of these routes is almost prohibitive, so that it is almost a question of via Madrid or not at all.

The foregoing paragraphs will furnish the reader with an outline of the whole problem of how to reach from England a suitable eclipse station in the Peninsula. This outline will pave the way for further details as to land journeys, which will be exhibited somewhat in the order of relative complexity and expense, beginning with the simplest.

VIGO TO OPORTO.

Chief stations and distances from Vigo:—Redondela (8m.), Guillarey Junct. (24m.), Tuy (26m.), Vianna (57m.), Famalicao Junct. (88m.), Oporto (108m.).

VIGO (pop. 17,000; hotel, Continental) is an important commercial centre with fine scenery all round. REDONDELA is one of the prettiest towns in Spain, especially as viewed from the railway viaducts. At GUILLAREY carriages may have to be changed for TUY, the last station in Spain and a Custom-house. There is a fine cathedral at Tuy. The boundary is formed by the river Minho, spanned by a magnificent bridge 400 yards long, railway above and carriage road underneath. Crossing it the train enters the Portuguese town of VALENCA, where there is a strong fortress and a custom-house. VIANNA (pop. 7000; hotel, Central). The river Lima is here spanned by a double bridge (rail and road) 700 ft. long. From FAMALICAO there is a loop line to Oporto running round the coast and 15m. longer than the main line. ERMEZINDE is the junction with the Spanish line to Barca d'Alva, Salamanca and France.

OPORTO TO OVAR AND LISBON.

From Oporto to Lisbon by the direct line it is 211m. Fares—first, single, L1, 11s.; second, single, L1, 3s. But forwards from Pampilhosa (66m.) there is a loop line to Lisbon, running along the coast, and 25m. longer than the direct line. If it is proposed to visit some of the sights which will be mentioned presently, the coast line must be taken.

Chief stations between Oporto and Lisbon by the coast line:—Ovar (23m.), Pampilhosa Junct. (66m.), Figueira da Foz (92m.), Leiria (132m.), Torres Vedras (192m.), Lisbon, Rocio station, (236m.).

OPORTO (pop. 120,000; hotels, Grande Hotel do Porto, Hotel de Paris) is a busy commercial city with much English colouring; e.g. church, hospital, doctor, club, and full modern facilities for locomotion by tramways, cabs and excursion carriages. The chief sights are:—(1) Cathedral, (2) Bishop's Palace, (3) Church of St. Francisco, (4) Palacio da Bolsa, (5) Museu Portuense, (6) Museu Industrial, (7) Crystal Palace and Gardens, (8) Bridge of Don Luiz I., and (9) Convent immortalised by Wellington in 1809 when he made his celebrated "Passage of the Douro." The port for Oporto where the steamers from England load and discharge is Leixoes, about 4m. to the W., with a service of trains and trams into the city.

OVAR.—This town being the nearest eclipse centre to England may be expected to draw many travellers in 1900. Being only 22m. or 11/2 hours from Oporto, a day trip may be made thither from Oporto, and this will suit the convenience of those who prefer for lodgings a large city to a small provincial town. A train from Oporto at 7 a.m. returning at 7.45 p.m. will suffice for the requirements of all who will go armed only with small instruments.

PAMPILHOSA JUNCTION (Good Hotel).—Within 10m. to the N.-E. of this station is the first of the special sights which can be seen in connection with the Oporto-Lisbon railway. Take the train from Pampilhosa to Luzo (6m.), omnibus thence (1/2 hour) to Busaco (Good Hotel), and see the battlefield, the site of one of Wellington's least successful victories. The panoramic views in all directions are superb. The famous convent is now a Government School of Forestry. After seeing Busaco progress may be made to FIGUEIRA DA FOZ (38m. from Luzo—Good Hotel), where the tourist may pass the night, unless he prefers to stay at Pampilhosa. Figueira is a seaside bathing-place of repute on a branch line.

LEIRIA (pop. 3000, Novo Hotel).—Stay here two nights in order to have the whole of the intervening day available for a circular tour by road to the Dominican Monastery at Batalha (7m.), and to the Cistercian Monastery at Alcobaca (13m. from Batalha, and also 13m. from Leiria). The Batalha Monastery (built 1388-1515) is by common consent the finest piece of architecture in Portugal. The Alcobaca Monastery, the largest in the world, is of earlier date (1148-1222). The ch., 360 ft. long, is the most interesting example of early Christian art in Portugal, whilst the cloisters are reputed to be amongst the finest in Europe. Refreshments must be taken by the traveller, for none can be procured during the drive. Vallado is really the nearest station to Alcobaca (3m.), but there is no sleeping accommodation there.

LISBON (pop. 250,000; hotels—Braganza, Avenida, and some adjoining the railway station) owing to its great length from E. to W., and narrow breadth from N. to S., is a less easy city to find one's way in than many other cities. This difficulty is aggravated by the want of leading thoroughfares and an efficient system of street naming and numbering. The sights are the usual ones of every large Continental city, such as churches, museums, and picture galleries; e.g. the Church of San Roque, the Church of San Vincente with its remarkable Royal Mortuary Chapel, the church and convent at Belem, and the gardens of the Escola Polytechnica. But a day should certainly be set apart for a trip to Cintra (17m. by rail, trains about every hour). The town (pop. 5000, hotel—Lawrence's) is 1800 ft. above the sea. See the Royal or Moorish Palace in the town, the beautiful Pena Palace and grounds, and the gardens of Sir F. Cook at Villa Montserrate (3m). These last are open daily to visitors who write their names at the entrance lodge. About 15 miles from Cintra is Mafra, with a palace, convent, and church of wonderful magnificence. An Eclipse excursionist planning a time-table for sight-seeing between Oporto and Lisbon inclusive, and with the intention of returning to England from Lisbon, must remember that the Royal Mail Company's boats only sail fortnightly (on Tuesdays or Wednesdays) from Lisbon. The boats anchor in the river, and are reached by a steam tender.

OPORTO TO PARIS.

This route for getting from or to possible eclipse stations in Northern Spain or Portugal is set out on the supposition that a certain number of Eclipse excursionists may wish to combine the Paris Exhibition with the eclipse. There is an International Express from Oporto (and Lisbon) every Tuesday and Friday, which does the journey to Paris in 40 hours, but no one travelling for pleasure would use this train, especially as much of the best scenery is traversed by night.

The journey should therefore be performed in sections, which may be made up as follows:—

Miles. Oporto to Salamanca via Pampilhosa 269 Salamanca to Burgos 150 Burgos to Biarritz 186 Biarritz to Paris 493

Use should be made as far as possible of the International Express. Where this is not done, and ordinary trains have to be taken, the delays are interminable and the combinations most exasperating to an Englishman. The hotel accommodation in all the smaller towns of Spain is so universally bad that it is not easy to suggest what otherwise would seem obvious, namely, how best to subdivide, at any rate, the first three of the above sections.

The International Express has a connection with Lisbon, the main train being made up or divided as the case may be at Pampilhosa Junction.

LISBON TO TALAVERA AND MADRID.

Observers who think they will be able to do better as regards a clear sky inland in Spain than near either the coast of Portugal or that of Spain will still find in many cases that Lisbon is their most convenient port for landing.

The chief stations on this route are:—Entroncamento Junction (67m.), Marvao (149m.), Valencia de Alcantara (159m.), *Plasencia (256m.), *Navalmoral (287m.), *Talavera de la Reina (328m.), Madrid, Delicias Stat. (412m.). The places marked (*) are all within the shadow track of the eclipse.

ENTRONCAMENTO (Good Buffet) is the junction station for the lines N. to Oporto and S.-E. to Badajos and most trains wait here: 8m. beyond, the Tagus is crossed by a fine bridge commanding good views.

MARVAO (Custom-house) is the last station in Portugal but the actual frontier is 6m. further on. VALENCIA DE ALCANTARA (Custom-house) is the first station in Spain. During the next 50m. the railway passes through much wild mountain scenery.

PLASENCIA, NAVALMORAL, and TALAVERA as eclipse stations have been mentioned on a previous page. Many celebrated struggles during the Peninsular War took place in this part of Spain, notably at Talavera in 1809 and at Almaraz in 1812.

MADRID (pop. 470,000; Hotel de Paris, Hotel de la Paix).

GIBRALTAR TO MADRID (WITH EXCURSIONS, ON THE WAY, TO GRANADA AND SEVILLE).

From Algeciras (opposite Gibraltar) there runs every Wednesday an International Express train to Madrid and Paris. The eclipse central line crosses this route about 15m. S. of Alcazar de San Juan Junction (pop. 8400; Good Buffet, Hotel, Casa Briseno) which is 368m. N. of Algeciras and 93m. S. of Madrid.

The chief stations between Algeciras and Madrid are:—Bobadilla Junct. (110m.), Cordova (185m.), Alcazar de San Juan (369m.), Aranjuez (430m.), and Madrid (461m.).

Bobadilla is a double junction. A line runs thence E. to Granada (75m.), and W. to Seville (104m.). A traveller visiting Granada must return to Bobadilla to get to Seville, but from Seville he can rejoin the main line at Cordova 75m. N. of Bobadilla, and avoid Bobadilla. From Seville to Cordova is 81m.

Algeciras is reached from Gibraltar by a local steamer. About one hour is allowed to make the connection with the train. Eclipse travellers going to this part of Spain who wish to take advantage of their proximity to Granada and Seville will find the following time-table usefully suggestive:—

May 16, W. Gibraltar to Granada, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. " 17, T. At Granada. " 18, F. At Granada. " 19, S. Granada to Seville, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. " 20, Sun. At Seville. " 21, M. At Seville. " 22, Tu. Seville to Cordova, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. " 23, W. At Cordova. " 24, T. Cordova to Alcazar, 2 a.m. to 3 p.m. " 25, F. At Alcazar. " 26, S. At Alcazar. " 27, Sun. At Alcazar. " 28, M. Eclipse day.

Corresponding to the above International train there is an express from Paris on Mondays reaching Algeciras on Wednesdays. This, of course, might suit the convenience of Eclipse travellers proposing to go to Spain via France, and perhaps return via Gibraltar. The time occupied by the International train between Paris and Algeciras and vice versa is about 49 hours.

LONDON TO ALICANTE.

The central line of the eclipse quits Spain at Cape Santa Pola about 10m. S. of Alicante (pop. 40,000): it crosses the line of the Alicante and Madrid railway at Novelda (pop. 8000) a station about 20m. inland from Alicante.

Alicante may be reached from England as follows:—(1) All sea, via Gibraltar and Malaga; (2) all land, via Paris, Biarritz and Madrid (1077m.), or Paris, Lyons and Perpignan (1126m.); or (3) part land and part sea, via Paris and Marseilles, and thence by steamer to Barcelona and Valencia.