Forearmed

Advance notice was given to the public of a total eclipse of the sun impending on the 24th of January next. Prof. Ernest W. Brown of Yale University, a gentleman who has spent many years of his life making exceedingly accurate tables of the moon's behavior so that phases of the moon can be predicted accurately years in advance, has been appointed by the American Astronomical Society as Chairman of a Committee to inform the public concerning the eclipse --a very necessary function because of the proclivity of the press to garble accounts of things scientific. The unusual feature of the eclipse of 1925 is that it will be visible in an unusually populous portion of this continent. One or two eclipses occur annually*; but many take place in out-of-the-way places; and one spot is not thrown twice in the shadow of a complete eclipse oftener than once in every few hundred years. The January eclipse will stretch over a region where none such has been seen in the memory of living man. Its narrow band of shadow will start at a point somewhat west of Duluth and stretch eastward, going out to sea across the southern shores of Connecticut. The southern boundary of the eclipse will include Duluth (Minn.), Menominee and Frankfort (Mich.), London (Ont), Dunkirk (N.Y.), Wilkes Barre (Pa.) and the northern part of Manhattan (so accurate can the prediction be made). Within the northern limit of the shadow will lie Manistique (Mich.), Toronto (Ont.), Auburn and Hudson (N.Y.), New Bedford (Mass.); while Syracuse (N.Y.), Springfield (Mass.) and Providence (R.I.) will be a mile or two outside of the totality band of the eclipse. The duration of the total eclipse will be about two minutes, during which observatories will photograph the sun's corona and the moon. The hour of the phenomenon will be between 9 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., Eastern Standard Time.

*The last total eclipse seen in this country took place in Southwestern California on Sept. 10, 1923.