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Remarks on the ' Aurora Borealis, as it occurred at Berwick on the 

 Evenings of Tuesday \lth and Wednesday 18th November 1835. 

 By Mr WILLIAM BAIRD. 



IN a paper which I read to the Club this time two years, I there stated 

 that the appearance, especially vivid displays of the Aurora Borealis, 

 seemed generally to have a decided connection with the weather, and 

 that wind, or rain, or both generally, followed the occurrence. The ap- 

 pearances which I then, with a feeble pen, essayed to describe, I men- 

 tioned had been followed by violent storms of wind and rain, and that 

 the disastrous effects of these had been felt on all our shores. In Lou- 

 don's Magazine several short notices may be seen of these phenomena, 

 accompanied with journals of the weather succeeding, all of which sup- 

 port the opinion I had also attempted to establish. 



Since the time of my last notice, opportunities have again offered of 

 observing these phenomena in this district, and the succeeding storms 

 of wind and rain which have desolated our coasts, have fully borne out 

 the opinion of their intimate connection with the weather. The remarks 

 which I shall now submit to the notice of the Club, corroborative of my 

 former paper, I shall throw together in the form of a journal, kept for a 

 short period about the time of their appearance. 



Sunday, 15th November 1835. The weather was this day remarkably 

 fine and mild. 



16M, Weather extremely fine, mild, and calm throughout the day, 

 the sun shining out with all the warmth of a day in spring. Wind 

 westerly. 



\lthy During the day the weather was fine and mild ; wind westerly ; 

 a gentle breeze during the day, but increasing a little as evening began 

 to set in. During the evening, the clouds which had obscured the sky 

 during afternoon, partly cleared away, and a fine display of Aurora was 

 observed. I unfortunately did not see them myself this evening, but 

 they were described as being very vivid here, and were observed the 

 same night at Cockburnspath, being described there as producing such 

 a degree of light as if the moon were near her full. At Berwick they 

 were observed at times shooting up in pencils of light, while at Cock- 

 burnspath they were seen in the form of bright white cloudy -like masses 

 of light, not possessed of much motion. During the display of these 

 phenomena the wind was moderate, blowing from the westward ; but 

 about two or three o'clock of the following morning, the 18th, it 

 rapidly increased, and soon blew a gale from the south-west, unaccom- 

 panied with rain. As morning advanced it took a north-westerly direc- 

 tion, and at ten A.M. it blew a fierce storm, which continued during 

 forenoon, but gradually abated about two or three o'clock in the after- 

 noon. Several fishing boats belonging to Coldingham had gone out 



