Solar Eclipses
As the Moon causes solar eclipses, the experiments made at these times offer further material for the survey. Solar eclipses, that may be total, annular or partial, only occur at New Moon. When the Sun and Moon meet in conjunction on or very near a lunar node, the Moon eclipses the Sun by passing directly in front of it as seen from the Earth. When the New Moon is in Perigee, and so appears large enough to cover the Sun's disc completely, the eclipse is total. The time between the first and last apparent contact of the moon with the Sun's disc last three to four hours, but the totality at most only seven minutes. When the New Moon is in Apogee on or very near a node, it appears smaller when passing in front of the Sun, and causes and annular eclipse. The annularity last up to twelve minutes.
Eclipses of the Sun, like those of the Moon, take place under varying circumstances. Both Sun and Moon are often engaged in other constellations during the eclipse itself. This complicates and influences the results that can be obtained. As in the case of lunar eclipses. The following survey will attempt to observe one aspect only, namely any changes in the formative power that the saps may show during the eclipse.
Plate 24: shows above two representative series of filterpaper pictures made with mistletoe sap, one during a total and one during an annular eclipse. The pictures in the top were made from the sap of mistletoe picked during the course of the total eclipse of the Sun on June 8 and 9, 1956. It began at 8;11 p.m. on June 8, reached the middle of totality at 10:21 p.m. and ended at 12:30 a.m. on June 9. The totality lasted four and three quarter minutes and was visible in New Zealand and the Southern Pacific Ocean.
The three test pictures in the middle of the row were obtained from mistletoe picked at the beginning, during the middle, and twenty minutes after the end. The pictures to the left and right were made from the sap of mistletoe from the same bushes picked twelve hours before and seven and half hours after the eclipse. Although this was only visible in parts of the Southern Hemisphere, the mistletoe sap here in the Northern Hemisphere changed its formative trend. The three pictures obtained during the event show more diffuse, less distinctly drawn forms than those obtained before and after. They show reduced formative power: this will be more obvious is the second and fourth tests are covered so that the middle one can be seen in direct contrast to the end ones.
The second row shows the test series made with mistletoe sap from twigs picked during the annular eclipse of the Sun on April 29 and 30, 1957. This eclipse began at 10:50 p.m. on April 29, reached the middle at 1:05 a.m. on April 30 and ended at 3:19 a.m. the area from which the centrality was visible arched from the Ural Mountains towards the North Pole and down again to about Spitzbergen.
The arrangement of the pictures is the same as in the top row. The three pictures obtained during the eclipse are placed between pictures obtained from mistletoe picked about fifteen hours before and five hours after the eclipse. Although the event could only be observed in the far North, the mistletoe responded to it. This time formative power increased. The middle picture showing the most concentrated form appeared from the sap of twigs picked during the few minutes of the middle of the eclipse. The contrast will be seen better if the second and fourth test are covered. These two examples show how the formative trends in plant saps change when the Moon eclipses the Sun. The two types of Solar eclipse, total and annular, must be considered separately. During total eclipses formative power is weakened, during annular eclipses it is strengthened. This result was always obtained though in varying degree according to the circumstances accompanying the eclipse.
The lower part of Plate 24 demonstrates the different effects of total and annular eclipses of the Sun with pictures of helleborus foetidus sap. Top row: These three test register the total eclipse of October 2, 1959 visible in Central Europe as a paritla eclipse. This began at 10:49 a.m., reached the middle at 1:12 p.m. and ended at 4 p.m. The helleborus rhizomes that provided the sap for the first test were pulled up at 8 a.m. The next two pictures show the state of the sap in the helleborus rhizomes during the middle and at the end of the eclipse.
Bottom row: This selection is from the series made for the same annular eclipse, April 29/30, 1957 as the mistletoe in the lower row of the upper part of plate 24. The plants were uprooted at the beginning, in the middle and one hour after the end. They registered the effect in their roots more distinctly than the mistletoe leaves and stems did.
The studies of iris germancia made during many eclipses of the Sun brought the same results as mistletoe and helleborous foetidus. They also showed definite changes in formative trend that accompanied the changing positions of the Moon as it eclipsed the Sun. The iris rhizomes examined also responded to total eclipses with reduced strength, to annular eclipses with increased strength of formative power. The results gained from the study of solar eclipses corroborate those found in connection of the lunar eclipses, Perigee and Apogee of Full and New Moon, and with changes in the inclination of the Moon's path during the Nodal Cycle. Together they prove the hypothesis that the formative trend in the plant saps as it comes to view in the capillary dynamic test pictures, is connected with the Moon. The test can be read in degrees of form strength or in degrees of lunar influence. The terms are synonymous in this case.
Summary on Findings
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