234 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



Antinous. It passed off gradually towards the south, and at a quar- 

 ter before six the planet Mars, tlien near the meridian, and about 

 45 degrees in altitude, rested, as it were, conspicuously on it. At 

 six it had gone far towards the southern horizon, and could scarcely 

 be perceived, leaving the sky unusually clear and bright. By this 

 time the bow over the aurora had much increased in altitude, and 

 was nearly effaced. 



At a few minutes past six, after a great many coloured columns 

 of light had risen from the N.E. and N.W. quarters, and passed the 

 zenith, the aurora sunk considerably towards the horizon ; but its 

 upper edge remained bright and very well defined. Some of the 

 streamers or columns were long, others short, and the widest gene- 

 rally remained long enough to pass through a gradation of prismatic 

 colours. At half-past six the aurora again increased in altitude, 

 and vivid coruscations radiated from every part of its arch, and on 

 intermixing with each other formed wide columns, which were so 

 grand with crimson tints as to astonish every spectator. Between 

 seven and eight the aurora had spread at least two-thirds over the 

 heavens, and as far as the shoulders of Orion on the eastern side 

 of the meridian, when large perpendicular columns, and short 

 pointed luminous coruscations, rising from the aurora like glitter- 

 ing spears and conical points in nearly parallel rows, now mixing 

 and then dividing, all passed through red, orange, lake, crimson, 

 green, and purple tints, so that the appearance altogether over so 

 great an extent of the heavens was awfully grand and sublime, par- 

 ticularly when contrasted with the cerulean sky, and its spangled 

 constellations in the southern portion of the hemisphere. 



At ten minutes before eight, when the aurora was in its greatest 

 splendour, several thousand persons had assembled in groups in va- 

 rious parts of the town and neighbourhood, and where they could 

 get an uninterrupted sight of Portsdown Hill, behind which the 

 finest part of the aurora appeared. 



At five minutes before eight another luminous rainbow-like arch 

 stretched across the heavens from the eastern point of the horizon, 

 and displayed several prismatic colours while passing southward. 

 Soon after eight a large tenebrious space, in and near the horizon, 

 presented itself several degrees on each side of the magnetic north, 

 and the aurora still far over the heavens, gradually diminished. At 

 nine it again ascended, and wide columns rose from every part of 

 its arch, and passed through the same colours as before mentioned. 



Between nine and ten the magnetic needle, which in the early 

 part of the evening stood at 24 degrees West of the true North, was 

 disturbed, and receded upwards of half a degree northward, either 

 by the influence of the aurora, or by a change of wind from N.E. 

 to S.W. and of course a change in its electrical state. At a quar- 

 ter before eleven there was a grand display of about twelve or four- 

 teen glowing columns from the aurora, several of which passed 

 beyond the zenith, when a perfect red rainbow-like arch, ten de- 

 grees above the aurora, was visible. At eleven another bow 3^ 

 degrees wide rose from the aurora, and passed through Aries, 



Cassiopeia, 



