~Eclipses,~ more or less partial, are of periodical occurrence, though
many are not observed in this country. Malmesbury wrote of one in 1410,
when people were so frightened that they ran out of their houses. Jan.
12, 1679, there was an eclipse so complete that none could read at
noonday when it occurred. May 3, 1715, gave another instance, it being
stated that the stars could be seen, and that the birds went to roost at
mid-day. The last total eclipse of the sun observed by our local
astronomers (if Birmingham had such "plants") occurred on May 22, 1724.
An account of the next one will be found in the _Daily Mail_, of August
12, 1999. On August 17, 1868, there was an eclipse of the sun (though
not noticeable here) so perfect that its light was hidden for six
minutes, almost the maximum possible interval, and it may be centuries
before it occurs again.

~Economy.~--Our grandfathers, and _their_ fathers, practised economy in
every way possible, even to hiring out the able-bodied poor who had to
earn the cost of their keep by spinning worsted, &c., and they thought
so much of the bright moonlight that they warehoused the oil lamps
intended for lighting the streets for a week at a time when the moon was
at its full, and never left them burning after eleven o'clock at other
times.

~Edgbaston.~--The name as written in the earliest known deeds, was at
first Celbaldston, altered as time went on to Eggebaldston, Eggebaston,
and Edgbaston. How long the family held the manor before the Conquest is
unknown; but when Domesday Book was written (1086), the occupying tenant
was one Drogo, who had two hides of land and half a mile of wood, worth
20s.; 325 acres were set down as being cultivated, though there were
only ten residents. The Edgbastons held it from the lords of Birmingham,