ed; vague imaginings of the vast and
incomprehensible agencies at work in the great centre of our system
crowd unbidden into my mind; and I seem to _feel_--not merely think
about--the stupendous grandeur of that life-emitting orb.

To return, however, to observation:--By slightly shifting the tube,
different parts of the solar disc can be brought successively upon the
screen and scrutinized as readily as if they were drawn upon a chart.
"With a power of--say about 60 or 80 linear--the most minute solar spot,
properly so called, that is capable of formation" (Mr. Howlett believes
"they are never less than three seconds in length or breadth) will be
more readily detected than by any other method," see Plate 7; "as also
will any faculae, mottling, or in short, any other phenomena that may
then be existing on the disc." "Drifting clouds frequently sweep by, to
vary the scene, and occasionally an aerial hail- or snow-storm." Mr.
Howlett has more than once seen a distant flight of rooks pass slowly
across the disc with wonderful distinctness, when the sun has been at a
low altitude, and likewise, much more frequently, the rapid dash of
starlings, which, very much closer at hand, frequent his church-tower."

An eclipse of the sun, or a transit of an inferior planet, is also much
better seen in this way than by any other method of observing the solar
disc. In Plate 7 are presented several solar spots as they have appeared
to Mr. Howlett, with an instrument of moderate power. The grotesque
forms of some of these are remarkable; and the variations the spots
undergo from day to day are particularly interesting to the thoughtful
observer.

A method of measuring the spots may now be described. It is not likely
indeed that the ordinary observer will care to enter upon any systematic
series of measurements. But even in his case, the means of forming a
general comparison between the spots he sees at different times cannot
fail to be valuable. Also the knowledge--which a simple method of
measurement supplies--of the actual dimensions of a spot in miles
(roughly) is calculated to enhance our estimate of the importance of
these features of the solar disc. I give Mr. Howlett's method in his own
words:--

"Cause your optician to rule for you on a circular piece of glass a
number of fine graduations, the 200th part of an inch apart, each fifth
and tenth line being of a different length in order to assist the eye in
their enumeration. Ins