Give me the ways of wand'ring stars to know,

The depths of heav'n above and earth below;

Teach me the various labours of the Moon,

And whence proceed th' Eclipses of the Sun. Virg. Georg. ll

The deprivation of the light of the sun, or some heavenly body, by the interposition of another, heavenly body between our sight and it is, called an Eclipse. Thus, eclipses of the sun happen by the moon's intervening between it and the earth; by which means the shadow of the moon falls upon the earth, when the latitude of the moon does not prevent it, by elevating her orb a ove, or depressing it below the earth. On the other hand, an eclipse of the moon can only happen when the earth is interposed between the sun and it; for then, if the latitude of the moon does not prevent it, the shadow of the earth may fall on the moon, and thereby cause either a partial, or total eclipse. A total eclipse of the sun or moon, is when their whole bodies are obscured; and a partial one, is when part only of their bodies is darkened: again, a central eclipse is when it is not only total, but the eclipsed body passes through the centre of the shadow.

As total solar eclipses are by no means common, we shall give an interesting description of one, by Dr. Stukeley, sent to his friend, the celebrated Dr. Edmund Halley.

"According to my promise, I send you what I observed of the solar eclipse, though I fear it will not be of any great use to you. I was not prepared with any instruments for measuring time or the like, and proposed to myself only to watch all the appearances that nature would present to the naked eye upon so remarkable an occasion, and which generally are overlooked, or but grossly regarded. I chose for my &station a place called Haradon Hill, two miles eastward from Amsbury, and full east from the opening of Stonehenge avenue, to which it is as the point of view. Before me lay the vast plain where that celebrated work stands, and I knew that the eclipse would appear directly over it; besides, I had the ad-rantage of a very extensive prospect every way, this being the behest hill hereabouts, and nearest the middle of the shadow. Full west of me, and beyond Stonehenge, is a pretty copped hill, like the top of a cone, lifting itself above the horizon; this is Clay hill, near Warminster, twenty miles distant, and near the central line of darkness, which must come from thence, so that I could have notice enough beforehand of its approach. Abrtham Sturgis and Stephen Ewens, both of this place, and sensible men, were with me. Though it was very cloudy, yet now and then we had gleams of sunshine, rather more than I could perceive at any other place around us. These two persons, looking through smoked glasses, while I was taking some bearings of the country with a circumferentor, both confidently affirmed the eclipse was begun, when, by my watch, I found it just half an hour after five; and accordingly from thence the progress of it was visible, and very often to the naked eye; the thin clouds doing the office of glasses. From the time of the sun's body being half covered, there was a very conspicuous circular iris round the sun, with perfect colours. On all sides we beheld the shepherds hurrying their flocks into fold, the darkness coming on; for they expected nothing less than a total eclipse for an hour and a quarter.

"When the sun looked very sharp like anew moon, the sky was pretty clear in that spot; but soon after a thicker cloud covered it, at which time the iris vanished; the copped hill before-mentioned grew very dark, together with the horizon on both sides, that is, to the north and south, and looked blue, just as it appears at the declension of day. We had scarcely time to tell them, when Salisbury steeple, six mile3 off southward, became very black; the copped hill was quite lost, and a most gloomy night with full career came upon us: at this instant we lost sight of the sun, whose place among the clouds was hitherto sufficiently distinguishable, but now not the least trace of it was to be found, any more than if really absent: then I saw by my watch, though with difficulty, and only by help of some light from the northern quarter, that it was six hours thirty-five minutes: just before this, the whole compass of the heavens and earth looked of a lurid complexion, properly speaking, for it was black and blue, only on the earth upon the horizon the blue prevailed; there was likewise in the heavens, among the clouds, much green interspersed, so that the whole appearance was really very dreadful, and as symptoms of sickening nature.

"Now I perceived we were involved in total and palpable darkness, as I may aptly call it; for though it came quickly, yet I was so intent, that I could perceive its steps, and feel it as it were drop upon us, and fall on the right shoulder (we looking westward) like a great dark mantle, or coverlet of a bed, thrown over us, or like the drawing of a curtain en that side. The horses we held in our hands were very sensible of it, and crowded close to us, startling with great surprise; and as much as I could see of the men's faces that stood by me, they had a horrible aspect. At this instant I looked around me, not without exclamations of admiration, and could discern colours in the heavens, but the earth had lost its blue, and was wholly black. For some time, among the clouds, there were visible streaks of rays, tending to the place of the sun as their centre; but immediately after, the whole appearance of earth and sky was entirely black: of all things I ever saw in my life, or can by imagination fancy, it was a sight the most tremendous.

"Towards the north-west, whence the eclipse came, I could not in the least find any distinction in the horizon between heaven and earth, for a good breadth of about sixty degrees, or more; nor the town of Amsbury underneath us, nor scarcely the ground we trod on. I turned myself round several times during this total darkness, and remarked at a good distance from the west on both sides, that is, to the north and south, the horizon very perfectly; the earth being black, the lower parts of the heavens light; for the darkness above hung over us like a canopy, alnost reaching the horizon in those parts, or as if made with skirts of a lighter colour; so that the upper edges of all the hills were as a black line, and I knew them very distinctly by their shape or profile; and northward, I saw perfectly, that the interval of light and darkness in the horizon was between Martinsal-hill and St. Ann's-hill; but southward it was more indefinite. I do not mean that the verge of the shadow passed between those hills, which were but twelve miles distant from us; but, so far I could distinguish the horizon; beyond it not at all. The reason of it was this; the elevation of ground 1 was upon gave me an opportunity of seeing the light of the heavens beyond the shadow; nevertheless, this verge of light looked of a dead yellowish, and greenish colour; it was broader to the north than south; but the southern was of a tawny colour: at this time behind us, or eastward toward London, it was dark too, where otherwise I could see the hills beyond Andover; for the foremost end of the shadow was past thither; so that the whole horizon was now divided into four parts of unequal bulk, and degrees of light and dark; the part to the north-west broadest and blackest, to the south-west lightest and longest. All the change I could perceive during the totality, was, that the horizon by degrees drew into two parts, light and dark: the northern hemisphere growing still longer, lighter, and broader; and the two opposite dark parts un'tinginto one, and swallowing up the southern enlightened part.

"As at the beginning the shade came feelingly upon our right shoulders, so now the light from the north, where it opened as it were; though 1 could discern no defined light or shade upon the earth that way, which I earnestly watched for yet it was manifestly by degrees, and with oscillation, going back a little, and quickly advancing further, till at length, upon the first lucid point appearing in the heavens, where the sun was, I could distinguish pretty plainly a rim of light running alongside of us a good while together, or sweeping by at our elbows from west to east. Just then, having reason to suppose the totality ended with us, I looked on my watch, and found it to be full three minutes and a half more. Now the hill-tops changed their black into blue again, and I could distinguish an horizon where the centre of darkness was before: the men cried out, they saw the copped-hill again, which they had eagerly looked for; but still it continued dark to the south-east, yet I cannot say that ever the horizon that way was undistinguishable. Immediately we heard the larks chirping, and singing very briskly, for joy of the restored luminary, after ail things had been hushed into a most profound and universal silence. The heavens and earth now appeared exactly like morning before sunrise, of a greyish cast, but rather more blue interspersed; and the earth, so far as the verge of the hill reached, was of a dark green, or russet colour.

"As soon as the sun emerged, the clouds grew thicker, and the light was very little amended for a minute or more, like a cloudy morning slowly advancing. After about the middle of the totality, and so after the emersion of the sun, we saw Venus very plainly, but no other star. Salisbury steeple now appeared; but the clouds never removing, we could take no account of it afterwards; but in the evening it lightened very much. I hastened home to write this letter, and the impres-sion was so vivid upon my mind, that I am sure, I could for some days after have written the same account of it, and very precisely. After supper I made a drawing of it from my imagination, upon the same paper on which I had taken a prospect of the country before.

"I must confess to you, that I was (I believe) the only person in England, that regretted not the cloudiness of the day, which added so much to the solemnity of the sight, and which incomparably exceeded, in my apprehension, that of 1715 which 1 saw very perfectly from the top of Boston steeple, in Lincolnshire, where the air was very clear; but the night of this was more complete and dreadful: there, indeed, I saw both sides of the shadow come from a great distance, and pass beyond us to a considerable extent; but this eclipse had much more of variety and majestic terror; so that I cannot but felicitate myself upon the opportunity of seeing these two rare accidents of nature, in so different a manner. Yet I should willingly have lost this pleasure, for your more valuable advantage of perfecting the noble theory of the celestial bodies, which, last time, you gave the world so nice a calculation of; and I wish the sky had now as much favoured us for an addition to your honour and great skill, which I doubt not to be as exact in this as before."