In a work of this kind, professedly devoted to a very brief and popular view of the different scientific subjects, much cannot be said on any special branch of science; it will be better, therefore, to take up one subject in astronomy, and by discussing it in a simple manner, our young friends may be stimulated to learn more of those glorious truths which are to be found in the published works of many eminent astronomers, and especially in that of Mr. Hind, called "The Illustrated London Astronomy." One of the most interesting subjects is the phenomenon of the eclipse of the sun; and as 1858 is likely to be long remembered for its "annular eclipse," we shall devote some pages and illustrations to this subject.

Eclipses of the sun are of three kinds—partial, annular, and total. Many persons have probably seen large partial eclipses of the sun, and may possibly suppose that a total eclipse is merely an intensified form of a partial one; but astronomers assert that no degree of partial eclipse, even when the very smallest portion of the sun remains visible, gives the slightest idea of a total one, either in the solemnity and overpowering influence of the spectacle, or the curious appearances which accompany it.

The late Mr. Baily said of an eclipse (usually called that of Thales), which caused the suspension of a battle between the Lydians and Medes, that only a total eclipse could have produced the effect ascribed to it. Even educated astronomers, when viewing with the naked eye the sun nearly obscured by the moon in an annular eclipse, could not tell that any part of the sun was hidden, and this was remarkably verified in the annular eclipse of the 15th March of this year.

During the continuance of a total eclipse of the sun, we are permitted a hasty glance at some of those secrets of Nature which are not revealed at any other time—glories that hold in tremulous amazement even veteran explorers of the heavens and its starry worlds.

The general meaning of an eclipse may be shown very nicely by lighting a common oil, or oxy-hydrogen lantern in a darkened room, and throwing the rays which proceed from it on a three-feet globe. The lantern may be called the sun, and, of course, it is understood that correct comparative sizes are not attempted in this arrangement; if it were so, the globe representing the earth would have to be a mere speck, for if we make the model of the sun in proportion to a three-feet globe, no ordinary lecture hall would contain it. This being premised, attention is directed to the lantern, which, like the sun, is self-luminous, and is giving out its own rays; these fall upon the globe we have designated the earth, and illuminate one-half, whilst the other is shrouded in darkness, reminding us of the opacity of the earth, and teaching, in a familiar manner, the causes of day and night. Another globe, say six inches in diameter, and supported by a string, may be compared to the moon, and, like the earth, is now luminous, and shines only by borrowed light: the moon is simply a reflector of light; like a sheet of white cardboard, or a metallic mirror. When, therefore, the small globe is passed between the lantern and the large globe, a shadow is cast on the large globe: it is also seen that only the half of the small globe turned towards the lantern is illuminated, while the other half, opposite the large globe, is in shadow or darkness. And here we understand why the moon appears to be black while passing before the sun; so also by moving the small globe about in various curves, it is shown why eclipses are only visible at certain parts of the earth's surface; and as it would take (roughly speaking) fifty globes as large as the moon to make one equal in size to our earth, the shadow it casts must necessarily be small, and cannot obscure the whole hemisphere of the earth turned towards it. An eclipse of the sun is, therefore, caused by the opaque mass of moon passing between the sun and the earth. Whilst an eclipse of the moon is caused by the earth moving directly between the sun and the moon: the large shadow cast by the earth renders a total eclipse of the moon visible to a greater number of spectators on that half of the earth turned towards the moon. All these facts can be clearly demonstrated with the arrangement already described, of which we give the following pictorial illustration:—

In using this apparatus, it should be explained that if the moon were as large as the sun, the shadow would be cylindrical like the figure 1, and of an unlimited length. If she were of greater magnitude, it would precisely resemble the shadow cast in the experiment already adduced with the lantern and shown at No. 2. But being so very much smaller than the sun, the moon projects a shadow which converges to a point as shown in the third diagram.

In order to comprehend the difference between an annular and a total eclipse of the sun, it is necessary to mention the apparent sizes of the sun and moon: thus, the former is a very large body—viz., eight hundred and eighty-seven thousand miles in diameter; but then, the sun is a very long way off from the earth, and is ninety millions of miles distant from us; therefore, he does not appear to be very large: indeed, the sun seems to be about the same size as the moon; for, although the sun's diameter is (roughly speaking) four hundred times greater than that of the moon, he is four hundred times further away from us, and, consequently, the sun and moon appear to be the same size, and when they come in a straight line with the eye, the nearer and smaller body, the moon, covers the larger and more distant mass, the sun; and hence, we have either an annular, or a total eclipse, showing how a small body may come between the eye and a larger body, and either partially or completely obscure it.

With respect to an annular eclipse, it must be remembered, that the paths of all bodies revolving round others are elliptical; i.e., they take place in the form of an ellipse, which is a figure easily demonstrated; and is, in fact, one of the conic sections.

If a slice be taken off a cone, parallel with the base, we have a circle thus—

If it be cut obliquely, or slanting, we see at once the figure spoken of, and have the ellipse as shown in this picture.

Now, the ellipse has two points within it, called "the foci," and these are easily indicated by drawing an ellipse on a diagram-board, in which two nails have been placed in a straight line, and about twelve inches apart. Having tied a string so as to make a loop, or endless cord, a circle may first be drawn by putting the cord round one of the nails, and holding a piece of chalk in the loop of the string, it may be extended to its full distance, and a circle described; here a figure is produced round one point, and to show the difference between a circle and an ellipse, the endless cord is now placed on the two nails, and the chalk being carried round inside the string, no longer produces the circle, but that familiar form called the oval. As a gardener would say, an oval has been struck; and the two points round which it has been described, are called the foci. This explanation enables us to understand the next diagram, showing the motion of the earth round the sun; the latter being placed in one of the foci of a very moderate ellipse, and the various points of the earth's orbit designated by the little round globes marked a, b, c, d, where it is evident that the earth is nearer to the sun at b than at d. In this diagram the ellipse is exaggerated, as it ought, in fact, to be very nearly a circle.

We are about three millions of miles nearer to the sun in the winter than we are in the summer; but from the more oblique or slanting direction of the rays of the sun during the winter season, we do not derive any increased heat from the greater proximity. The sun, therefore, apparently varies in size; but this seeming difference is so trifling that it is of no importance in the discussion: and here we may ask, why does the earth move round the sun? Because it is impelled by two forces, one of which has already been fully explained, and is called the centrifugal power, and the other, although termed the centripetal force, is only another name for the "attraction of gravitation."

To show their mutual relations, let us suppose that, at the creation of the universe, the earth, marked a, was hurled from the hand of its Maker; according to the law of inertia, it would continue in a straight line, a c, for ever through space, provided it met with no resistance or obstruction. Let us now suppose the earth to have arrived at the point b, and to come within the sphere of the attraction of the sun s; here we have at once contending forces acting at right angles to each other; either the earth must continue in its original direction, a c, or fall gradually to the sun. But, mark the beauty and harmony of the arrangement: like a billiard-ball, struck with equal force at two points at right angles to each other, it takes the mean between the two, or what is termed the diagonal of the parallelogram (as shown in our drawing of a billiard-table), and passes in the direction of the curved line, b d; having reached d, it is again ready to fly off at a tangent; the centrifugal force would carry it to e, but again the gravitating force controls the centripetal, and the earth pursues its elliptical path, or orbit, till the Almighty Author who bade it move shall please to reverse the command.

The mutual relations of the centripetal and centrifugal forces may be illustrated by suspending a tin cylindrical vessel by two strings, and having filled it with water, the vessel may be swung round without spilling a single drop; of course, the movement must be commenced carefully, by making it oscillate like a pendulum.

The cord which binds it to the finger may be compared to the centripetal force, whilst the centrifugal power is illustrated by the water pressing against the sides and remaining in the vessel. Upon the like principles the moon revolves about the earth, but her orbit is more elliptical than that of the earth around the sun; and it is evident from our diagram that the moon is much further from the earth at a than at b. As a natural consequence, the moon appears sometimes a little larger and sometimes smaller than the sun; the apparent mean diameter of the latter being thirty-two minutes, whilst the moon's apparent diameter varies from twenty-nine and a half to thirty-three and a half minutes. Now, if the moon passes exactly between us and the sun when she is apparently largest, then a total eclipse takes place; whereas, if she glides between the sun and ourselves when smallest—i.e., when furthest off from the earth—then she is not sufficiently large to cover the sun entirely, but a ring of sunlight remains visible around her, and what is called an annular eclipse of the sun occurs. This fact may be shown in an effective manner by placing the oxy-hydrogen lantern before a sheet, or other white surface, and throwing a bright circle of light upon it, which may be called the sun; then, if a round disc of wood be passed between the lantern and the sheet, at a certain distance from the nozzle of the lantern, all the light is cut off, the circle of light is no longer apparent, and we have a resemblance to a total eclipse.

By taking the round disc of wood further from the lantern, and repeating the experiment, it will be found that the whole circle of light is not obscured, but a ring of light appears around the dark centre, corresponding with the phenomenon called the annular (ring-shaped) eclipse.

If a bullet be placed very near to one eye whilst the other remains closed, a large target may be wholly shut out from vision; but if the bullet be adjusted at a greater distance from the eye, then the centre only will be obscured, and the outer edge or ring of the target remains visible.

When the advancing edge, or first limb, as it is termed, of the moon approaches very near to the second limb of the sun, the two are joined together for a time by alternations of black and white points, called Baily's beads.

This phenomenon is supposed to be caused partly by the uneven and mountainous edge of the moon, and partly by that inevitable fault of telescopes, and of the nervous system of the eye, which tends to enlarge the images of luminous objects, producing what is called irradiation. It is exceedingly interesting to know that, although the clouds obscured the annular eclipse of 1858, in many parts of England, we are yet left the recorded observations of one fortunate astronomer, Mr. John Yeats, who states that—

"All the phenomena of an annular eclipse were clearly and beautifully visible on the Fotheringay-Castle-mound, which is a locality easily identified. Baily's beads were perfectly plain on the completion of the annulus, which occurrence took place, according to my observation, at about seventy seconds after 1 o'clock; it lasted about eighty seconds. The 'beads,' like drops of water, appeared on the upper and under sides of the moon, occupying fully three-fourths of her circumference.

"Prior to this, the upper edge of the moon seemed dark and rough, and there were no other changes of colour. At 12.43, the cusps, for a few moments, bore a very black aspect.

"There was nothing like intense darkness during the eclipse, and less gloom than during a thunderstorm. Bystanders prognosticated rain; but it was the shadow of a rapidly-declining day. At 12 o'clock, a lady living on the farm suddenly exclaimed, 'The cows are coming home to be milked!' and they came, all but one; that followed, however, within the hour. Cocks crowed, birds flew low or fluttered about uneasily, but every object far and near was well defined to the eye.

"A singular broadway of light stretched north and south for upwards of a quarter of an hour; from about 12.54 to 1.10 p.m."

If the annular eclipse of the sun be a matter for wonderment, the total eclipse of the same is much more surprising; no other expression than that of awfully grand, can give an idea of the effects of totality, and of the suddenness with which it obscures the light of heaven. The darkness, it is said, comes dropping down like a mantle, and as the moment of full obscuration approaches, people's countenances become livid, the horizon is indistinct and sometimes invisible, and there is a general appearance of horror on all sides. These are not simply the inventions of active human imaginations, for they produce equal, if not greater effects, upon the brute creation. M. Arago quotes an instance of a half-starved dog, who was voraciously devouring some food, but dropped it the instant the darkness came on. A swarm of ants, busily engaged, stopped when the darkness commenced, and remained motionless till the light reappeared. A herd of oxen collected themselves into a circle and stood still, with their horns outward, as if to resist a common enemy; certain plants, such as the convolvulus and silk-tree acacia, closed their leaves. The latter statement was corroborated during the annular eclipse of the 15th of March, 1858, by Mr. E. S. Lane, who states, that crocuses at the Observatory, Beeston, had their blossoms expanded before the eclipse; they commenced closing, and were quite shut at about one minute previous to the greatest darkness; and the flowers opened partially about twenty minutes afterwards. A "total eclipse" of the sun has always impressed the human mind with terror and wonder in every age: it was always supposed to be the forerunner of evil; and not only is the mind powerfully impressed, as darkness gradually shuts out the face of the sun, but at the moment of totality, a magnificent corona, or glory of light, is visible, and prominences, or flames, as they are often termed, make their appearance at different points round the circle of the dark mass. This glory does not flash suddenly on the eye; but commencing at the first limb of the sun, passes quickly from one limb to the other. Our illustration shows "the corona" and the "rose-coloured prominences," whose nature we shall next endeavour to explain. Professor Airy describes the change from the last narrow crescent of light to the entire dark moon, surrounded by a ring of faint light, as most curious, striking, and magical in effect. The progress of the formation of the corona was seen distinctly. It commenced on the side of the moon opposite to that at which the sun disappeared, and in the general decay and disease which seemed to oppress all nature, the moon and the corona appeared almost like a local sore in that part of the sky, and in some places were seen double. Its texture appeared as if fibrous, or composed of entangled threads; in other places brushes, or feathers of light proceeded from it, and one estimate calculated the light at about one-seventh part of a full moon light. The question, whether the corona is concentric with the sun and moon, was specially mooted by M. Arago, and Professor Baden Powell has produced such excellent imitations of the "corona" by making opaque bodies occult, or conceal, very bright points, that it cannot be considered as material or real, although it ought to be remembered that the best theory of the zodiacal light represents it to be a nebulous mass, increasing in density towards the sun, and yet no portion of this nebulous mass was seen during the totality. But by far the most remarkable of all the appearances connected with a "total eclipse" are the rose-coloured prominences, mountains, or flames, projecting from the circumference of the moon to the inner ring of the corona; and, although they had been observed by Vaserius (a Swedish astronomer) in 1733, they took the modern astronomers entirely by surprise in 1842, and they were not prepared with instruments to ascertain the nature of these strange and almost portentous forms. In 1851, however, great preparations were made to throw further light on the subject. Professor Airy went to make his observations, and he says, "That the suddenness of the darkness in 1851 appeared much more striking than in 1842, and the forms of the rose-coloured mountains were most curious. One reminded him of a boomerang (that curious weapon thrown so skilfully by the aborigines of Australia); this same figure has been spoken of by others as resembling a Turkish scimitar, strongly coloured with rose-red at the borders, but paler in the centre. Another form was a pale-white semicircle based on the moon's limbs; a third figure was a red detached cloud, or balloon, of nearly circular form, separated from the moon by nearly its own breadth; a fourth appeared like a small triangle, or conical red mountain, perhaps a little white in the interior;" and the Professor proceeds to say, "I employed myself in an attempt to draw roughly the figures, and it was impossible, after witnessing the increase in height of some, and the disappearance of another, and the arrival of new forms, not to feel convinced that the phenomena belonged to the sun, and not to the moon."

Still the question remains unanswered, what are these "rose-coloured prominences?" If they belong to the sun, and are mountains in that luminary, they must be some thirty or forty thousand miles in height.

M. Faye has formally propounded the theory, that they are caused by refraction, or a kind of mirage, or the distortion of objects caused by heated air. This phenomenon is not peculiar to any country, though most frequently observed near the margin of lakes and rivers, and on hot sandy plains. M. Monge, who accompanied Buonaparte in his expedition to Egypt, witnessed a remarkable example between Alexandria and Cairo, where, in all directions, green islands appeared surrounded by extensive lakes of pure, transparent water. M. Monge states that "Nothing could be conceived more lovely or picturesque than the landscape. In the tranquil surface of the lake, the trees and houses with which the islands are covered were strongly reflected with vivid and varied hues, and the party hastened forward to enjoy the refreshment apparently proffered them; but when they arrived, the lake, on whose bosom the images had floated—the trees, amongst whose foliage they arose, and the people who stood on the shore, as if inviting their approach, had all vanished, and nothing remained but the uniform and irksome desert of sand and sky, with a few naked and ragged Arabs."

If M. Monge and his party had not been undeceived, by actually going to the spot, they would, one and all, have been firmly convinced that these visionary trees, lakes, and buildings had a real existence. This kind of mirage is known in Persia and Arabia by the name of "serab" or miraculous water, and in the western districts of India by that of "scheram." This illusion is the effect of unusual refraction, and M. Faye attempts to account for the rose-coloured mountains by something of a similar nature.

It is right, however, to mention, that learned astronomers do not consider this theory of any value.

Lieutenant Patterson, one of the observers of the eclipse of 1851, says, that "It is very remarkable that the flames or prominences correspond exactly (at least as far as he could judge) with the spots on the sun's surface." Taking this statement with that of M. Faye, it may be assumed, as a new idea, and nothing more, that these prominences are, after all, mere aerial pictures of these openings in the sun's atmosphere, or what are called "sun spots." In the "Edinburgh Philosophical Journal," it is said, that although it has lately been shown in the Edinburgh Observatory that it is possible to produce, by certain optical experiments, red flames on the sun's limb of precisely the rose-coloured tint described, yet, on weighing the whole of the evidence, there does seem a great preponderance in favour of the eclipse flames being real appendages of the sun, and in that case they must be masses of such vast size as to play no unimportant part in the economy of that stupendous orb.

During the last eclipse great disappointment was felt that the darkness was so insignificant, although, when we consider the enormous light-giving power of the sun, and know that it was not wholly obscured, we could hardly have expected any other result. There can be no doubt that a decided change in the amount of light is only to be observed during a total eclipse of the sun, one of which occurred on the 7th of September, 1858; but, unfortunately, it was only visible in South America; we must therefore content ourselves with the descriptions of those astronomers who can be fully relied on. From the graphic account given by Professor Piazzi Smyth, the astronomer- royal for Scotland, of a total eclipse as seen by him on the western coast of Norway, we may form some notion of the imposing appearance of the surrounding country when obscured during the occurrence of this rare astronomical phenomenon.

The Professor remarks, "To understand the scene more fully, the reader must fancy himself on a small, rocky island on a mountainous coast, the weather calm, and the sky at the beginning of the eclipse seven-tenths covered with thin and bright cirro-strati clouds. As the eclipse approaches, the clouds gradually darken, the rays of the sun are no longer able to penetrate them through and through, and drench them with living light as before, but they become darker than the sky against which they are seen. The air becomes sensibly colder, the clouds still darker, and the whole atmosphere murkier.

"From moment to moment as the totality approaches, the cold and darkness advance apace; and there is something peculiarly and terribly convincing in the two different senses, so entirely coinciding in their indications of an unprecedented fact being in course of accomplishment. Suddenly, and apparently without any warning (so immensely greater were its effects than those of anything else which had occurred), the totality supervenes, and darkness comes down. Then came into view lurid lights and forms, as on the extinction of candles. This was the most striking point of the whole phenomenon, and made the Norse peasants about us flee with precipitation, and hide themselves for their lives.

"Darkness reigned everywhere in heaven and earth, except where, along the north-eastern horizon, a narrow strip of unclouded sky presented a low burning tone of colour, and where some distant snow-covered mountains, beyond the range of the moon's shadow, reflected the faint mono-chromatic light of the partially eclipsed sun, and exhibited all the detail of their structure, all the light, and shade, and markings of their precipitous sides with an apparently supernatural distinctness. After a little time, the eyes seemed to get accustomed to the darkness, and the looming forms of objects close by could be discerned, all of them exhibiting a dull-green hue; seeming to have exhaled their natural colour, and to have taken this particular one, merely by force of the red colour in the north.

"Life and animation seemed, indeed, to have now departed from everything around, and we could hardly but fear, against our reason, that if such a state of things was to last much longer, some dreadful calamity must happen to us all; while the lurid horizon, northward, appeared so like the gleams of departing light in some of the grandest paintings by Danby and Martin, that we could not but believe, in spite of the alleged extravagances of these artists, that Nature had opened up to the constant contemplation of their mind's-eye some of those magnificent revelations of power and glory which others can only get a glimpse of on occasions such as these."

It can be easily imagined, that under such peculiar and awful circumstances, the careful observation of these effects must be somewhat difficult, and the only wonder is that the astronomical observations are conducted with any certainty at all.

In the eclipse of 1842, it was not only the vivacious Frenchman who was carried away in the impulse of the moment, and had afterwards to plead that "he was no more than a man" as an excuse for his unfulfilled part in the observations, but the same was the case with the grave Englishman and the more stolid German. In 1851, much the same failure in the observations occurred; and on some person asking a worthy American, who had come with his instruments from the other side of the world expressly to observe the eclipse, what he had succeeded in doing? he merely answered, with much quiet impressiveness, "That if it was to be observed over again, he hoped he would be able to do something, but that, as it was, he had done nothing: it had been too much for him." This is not quite so bad as the fashionable lady who had been invited to look at an eclipse of the sun through a grand telescope, but arriving too late, inquired whether "it could not be shown over again."

With this brief glance at the science of astronomy, we once more return to the term "gravity," which will introduce to us some new and interesting facts, under the head of what is called "centre of gravity."