Observations on the Eclipse of the Sun at Chatham, April 1, 1764, by Mr. Mungo Murray: Communicated to Joseph Salvadore, Esq; F. R. S. in a Letter from Dr. John Bevis

XXXI. Observations on the Eclipse of the Sun at Chatham, April 1, 1764, by Mr. Mungo Murray: Communicated to Joseph Salvadore, Esq; F. R. S. in a Letter from Dr. John Bevis. Sir, Read May 24, 1764. I Fancy I can now satisfy your curiosity as to a place in the northern limit of the path of the Moon's shadow, in the eclipse we observed at your house; that is, where the lower limbs of the Sun and Moon coincided, by the following abstract from a letter I received from my friend Mr. Mungo Murray of Chatham, a good mathematician, and author of an excellent work on ship-building. "I am infinitely obliged to you for your kind present of the telescope glasses. I got them most curiously mounted, and, as you said, they make a 12 foot telescope, which takes in the whole Sun nearly. I set my watch by a very good vertical sun-dial, precisely at 9 o'clock, and at 8 minutes after I perceived the Moon just enter on the Sun. About half an hour after 10, the eclipse was barely annular; the light of the Sun below the Moon being but just visible, and less than a hair in the telescope. At 55 minutes past 11 the eclipse ended, and left the Sun quite round." By this, Sir, I think you may safely conclude, that Chatham was not much more than a mile (perhaps less) south-east of the limit; which therefore passed over Rochester-bridge, or very near it. Your most obedient humble servant, John Bevis.