Helium4ine emission observed in the flash spectrum at the Khartoum eclipse is interpreted in terms of a chromospheric model. The He I triplets have excitation temperatures of 6000 , and the singlets have excitation temperatures of 20000 . It is demonstrated that ultraviolet emission from the corona cannot account for the observed excitation of helium. A model of the chromosphere is derived from the helium data combined with the continuum data at X 3640 and X 4700. A two-column model, with Te and fle varying from column to column along a horizontal surface, is needed to satisfy the data. The model gives T.(h) and fle(h) in both types of columns. The cooler columns are identified with the spicules on the basis of the observed spicule structure on the spectrograms.
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Athay et al. (1956) studied this question.