Of the ECLIPSES this Year, Moon. I 726. HERE will happen this Year Four Eclipfes of the 1. The First will be an Eclipfe of the Sun, March 22 about 9 in the Morning; but by Reafon of the Moons South Latitude it will be Invisible to us. II. The Second will be of the Moon, on the 5th of April, about 8 in the Morning, and for that Reason Invisible. III The Third will be a Great Eclipfe of the Sun, and Visible to us if the Air be clear; it happens on Wednesday the 14th of September. The Calculation is as follows. The Beginning will be at The Middle at The End The Whole Duration The Digits Eclipfed are about 36 min. p. 10 Morn. Noon. -24 min. p. 1.Aftern. 2 Hours 48 min. 10 IV. The Fourth and Laft is of the Moon,the Beginning will be on the 29th of September, and about Six Digits of the Lower or South half of the Moon will pass thro' the Earths Shadow, it will be Visible to us if the Weather permit, which according to Calculation will be as follows. The Beginning 29 Day The whole Duration 34 min. paft 10 Night 49 min. paft 14 Night 4 min. paft Morn. ... 2 Hours 30 min. This Eclipfe of the Moon happens fo, near the Great Benevolent Jupiter, the Effects 'tis hop'd will not be ill." The seventh page of Dr. Ames' first Almanack, TO THE READER. Courteous Reader, Have bere adventured to prefent you with an Almapack for the Enfuing Year. it being my first made Publick by the Prefs; should it find Acceptance, I have my End and shall receive fufficient Encouragement to Un. dertake fomewhat more for your benefit. Thus ReaderFor your fake I have expofed my fell to the dangerous sharp Teeth of envious Detraclors, which is a great Hazard" :Specially in this polish'd Age, among fo many fine & curious Wits, who fcarcely can approve of any thing, tho never fo Fudicionfly Compofed. There has been no pains, nor care, wanting to render thefe Calculations as free from Errors as pofible, yes if any fault commuted by my Pen or Prefs pass Uncorrected, Excufe it; in fo doing you will not only do your felf a Kindness, bus alfo oblige him, ako is a Friend to all that are Mathematically inclined, and a real Lover of the moft fublime ftudy of Aftronomy, N. Amica. Bridgwater, Octob. 12th. 1725. Ead then and Learn but don't all faults Objell, Titandaounds with Bears & Beats of Prey; Wice in a Century (Old Indians lay.) Whereof fome do embrace ProudNeptunes Waves (tize, I Dele Sup. C. Boston, the Fira Tucfday in May. } The eighth page of Dr. Ames' first Almanack, EVERYTHING has a beginning, and books are no exception to the rule. A book without a preface would certainly be unique, for some excuse must always be found for public calamities; hence I, in introducing my author anew to the public, after a lapse of so many years, essay this apology for my temerity, and relate how I became so interested in what is generally and ignorantly classed as the most insignificant of works. My first intimacy with the almanack was at a very tender age-before my advent into nankeen trousers-and the first copy that ever attracted my attention was one of a number that hung suspended from a brass knob, at the corner of a mantel which surmounted the cavernous kitchen fireplace in the chateau where my grandfather resided. It was about dusk, I was alone-or almost so-two self-satisfied looking silhouettes that beamed graciously from their mournful frames above the mantel were the only company present, and the brass andirons which I had regarded complacently by the light of the flickering fire, seemed to express sympathy for the only child in the house. As I have said, the suspended bunch of almanacks attracted my attention. The huge rooster on the outer cover, surrounded by the legend "HUTCHINS' FARMERS ALMANACK, FOR THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1846," seemed to say "come, and enjoy the contents hereof," and I accepted the invitation. First, I essayed to reach the library with the turkey wing-no success; next, the brass mounted tongs refused to gather the treasure; and finally, an assault upon the work was inevitable. I pushed a very shaky list-bottomed rocking chair of perpendicular architecture, from the other side of the room to the corner of the fireplace, mounted this very wiggly ladder, and tremblingly reached for the prize. The rooster appeared to ope his mouth to denounce the infidelity of a youthful Peter; the occupants of the silhouette frames appeared to frown, the fire seemed desirous of going out; I grabbed the pamphlets, the list-bottom subsided, in fact gave (me) away. One leg went through, my balance was missing, the almanacks and brass button came also; so did a crash, a scream, and my grandfather's eldest daughter, who elucidated the enormity of my crime by sundry resonant spanks, on that portion of my anatomy as yet guiltless of nankeen. To continue my tale-I never took much interest in almanacks from that day, until about fifteen years since, when I made a visit to a sequestered retreat in Connecticut, of absolute Arcadian simplicity, nine miles from civilization, where a locomotive whistle was never heard, where a steamboat was never known to stop, where people have lived and died happily, as stones in the graveyard have attested for more than a century; where Sunday commences Saturday night, where attending meeting is an all day job, where a funeral is a solemnity, where the mail comes but twice a week, and where at other times the intelligence is conveyed by those who gathered at "Squire Arnold's 'tween services last Sabbath." On the occasion of this never-to-be-forgotten visit, a dolorous 1 Only the people wore more clothes. I never rightly appreciated what "Arcadian simplicity" was, until my friend, John W————, then U. S. Consul at M- - explained to an inquiring caller in my presence that the natives of a certain province in North Africa were arrayed with “Arcadian simplicity." More details being required, John explained that "they only wore a little cotton in their ears." succession of wet days, a consequent dearth of amusement, engendered a desire for self-destruction, and I went up into the attic or garret of this farmhouse to procure the necessary tools. I had no sooner bumped my head against the rafters when my mind changed, and I seated myself like Mr. C. Marius among the ruins of Carthage, and contemplated my surroundings. There were bunches of dried herbs, antiquated farm tools, popcorn, seed corn, buckwheat, wool, old quilts, spinning wheels, close stools, (auglice, invalids chairs), flax hetchels, scythes, tobacco plants, hen feathers, (and other gallinaceous jetsam,) wasps' nests with some wasps, cobwebs, old boots and other considered trifles of rustic life that might come handy some day. While mentally taking this inventory my eyes rested on a stack of papers, books and pamphlets in various stages of decay, giving forth a peculiar aromatic incense, reminding one somewhat of a certain insect, 1 than which, according to a discriminating Frenchman, the odor of the remark made by Cambronne at Waterloo, was infinitely more preferable. Reading matter on a farm of the character of this abiding place is always a scarce article, and at this juncture this mine of odoriferous scraps was gladly welcomed. The world seemed. young again, dull care had vanished, and I lost myself in the wilderness of religious pamphlets, ancient Congressional Records, early school books, weekly newspapers, the "Russel Colvin miracle," the "Last dying speeches of Gibbs and Wansley, the Pirates," the latter appropriately illustrated with two occupied coffins, and other miscellany, among which was sprinkled many copies of ancient almanacks, principally the productions of Nathan Daboll, the time-honored Connecticut mathematician. The almanacks interested me the most, and I carried off all I could find. Since this occasion I have gathered them in from almost every part of the world. Early in this craze, a quantity 1 Cimex lectularius, of the order Hemiptera, which has no wings at all. |