"Alas! we are forced to take things as they are.
"The surprise, the oppression, the terror of some, the universal silence are over. The Sun reappears in his splendor, and the life of nature resumes its momentarily suspended course.
"While I was making my drawing, M. l'Abbé Moreux, my colleague from the Astronomical Society of France, who accompanied me to Spain for this observation, was taking one of his own, without any reciprocal communication. These two sketches are alike, and confirmatory.
"The differential thermometers that I exposed to the Sun, hanging freely, and protected from reflection from the ground, were read every five minutes. The black thermometer went down from 33.1° to 20.7°, that is 12.4°; the white from 29° to 20.2°—that is, 8.8°. The temperature in the shade only varied three degrees.
"The light received during totality was due: first, to the luminous envelope of the Sun; second, to that of the terrestrial atmosphere, illuminated at forty kilometers (twenty-five miles) on the one side and the other of the line of centrality. It appeared to be inferior to that of the Full Moon, on account of the almost sudden transition. But, in reality, it was more intense, for only first-magnitude stars were visible in the sky, whereas on a night of full moon, stars of second, and even of third magnitude are visible. We recognized, among others, Venus, Mercury, Sirius, Procyon, Capella, Rigel, Betelgeuse."
From these notes, taken on the spot, it is evident that the contemplation of a total eclipse of the Sun is one of the most marvelous spectacles that can be admired upon our planet.
Some persons assured me that they saw the shadow of the Moon flying rapidly over the landscape. My attention was otherwise occupied, and I was unable to verify this interesting observation. The shadow of the Moon in effect took only eleven minutes (3.47 P.M. to 3.58 P.M.) to traverse the Iberian Peninsula from Porto to Alicante, i.e., a distance of 766 kilometers (475 miles). It must therefore have passed over the ground at a velocity of sixty-nine kilometers per minute, or 1,150 meters per second, a speed higher than that of a bullet. It can easily be watched from afar, on the mountains.
Some weeks previous to this fine eclipse, when I informed the Spaniards of the belt along which it could be observed, I had invited them to note all the interesting phenomena they might witness, including the effects produced by the eclipse upon animals. Birds returned hurriedly to their nests, swallows lost themselves, sheep huddled into compact packs, partridges were hypnotized, frogs croaked as if it were night, fowls took refuge in the hen-house, and cocks crowed, bats came out, and were surprised by the sun, chicks gathered under their mothers' wing, cage-birds ceased their songs, some dogs howled, others crept shivering to their masters' feet, ants returned to the antheap, grasshoppers chirped as at sunset, pigeons sank to the ground, a swarm of bees went silently back to their hive, and so on.