Effect of Eclipse

The almost instantaneous darkening of the sun, particularly when it is unlooked for, is calculated to impress a spectator with vague terror; even when expected, it fills the mind with awe. The sudden darkness is impressive from its strangeness, as much as from occurring by day it resembles neither the darkness of night nor the gloom of twilight. The cone of the moon’s shadow, though it completely envelops the spectator, does not enclose the whole atmosphere above his horizon. The mass of unenclosed air, accordingly, catches the sunlight, and reflects it into the region of the total eclipse, making there a peculiar twilight. Stars and planets appear and all animals are dismayed by the dismal aspect of nature.