dent on eclipses for accessions to our knowledge of the corona, so it will not be a matter of surprise that on the recent occasion the attention of the different parties was almost entirely concentrated on the minute scrutiny of the corona by every device which was likely to explain its nature.
The astronomers of Great Britain had as usual taken a leading part in organizing plans for the purpose of observing this eclipse. A joint committee of the Royal Society, and of the Royal Astronomical Society, had general charge of the arrangements. The sinews of war were chiefly provided from that liberal grant of £4,000 a year which the State places at the disposal of the Royal Society for furthering the interests of science in such ways as may seem most advantageous.
Assistance of other kinds was also forthcoming. In many cases the owners of valuable instruments placed them at the disposal of the observers. The Admiralty provided such facilities of transport as were needed to attain out-of-the-way places. The comity of nations was also illustrated by the readiness with which the authorities of the French and Brazilian Governments respectively complied with the requests made to them. They afforded accommodation and extended courtesies to the parties on the coast of Brazil and in the French territory on the African coast to which the two British expeditions were despatched.
A careful study of the meteorological conditions of the different localities was a necessary preliminary to the choice of stations. For it need hardly be said that, however suitable a station may have appeared to be from the astronomical facts of long duration and of high altitude
