Phenomena of Contact

Abstract

IN NATURE of August 24 I objected to, as misleading, the statement by Mr. Newcomb that “we find ligaments, black drops, and distortions sometimes seen in interior contacts of the limbs of Mercury or Venus with that of the sun, described as if they were regular phenomena of a transit, without any mention of the facts and experiments which indicated that these phenomena are simple products of insufficient optical power and bad definition which disappear in a fair atmosphere with a good telescope well adjusted to focus.” I asked for references to the facts and experiments by which the statements are justified.