422 Mr. Dalton on the Height of the Aurora 



to meteorology, and to the angles of elevation of objects. 

 " About 8 P.M., a luminous arch appeared very brilliant; the 

 outside of the curve seemed a little south of the zenith. The 

 eastern end tapered to a point above the horizon ; the western 

 end was broader, and lost in a cloud which rested on the 

 mountain. It disappeared about 10 o'clock." 



At Whitehaven, one hundred miles from Edinburgh, and a 

 few miles more to the westward, a minute description of the 

 phaenomenon was given in one of the newspapers of that place, 

 by Mr. Holden, lecturer on astronomy, who happened to be 

 there at that time. At 8 h 45 m the east leg of the arch covered 

 a Corona? Borealis, the northern edge of the bow touched 

 Castor near its greatest altitude, and the west leg went over 

 the three small stars marked \ in the head of Orion. The 

 breadth at greatest altitude was 4° 40', but tapered down to 

 the horizon, where it was not more than one-fourth of that 

 breadth. The east leg was 1 5° north of the east point, and 

 about the same number of degrees south of the zenith ; and 

 the west leg was 15° south of the west point. At 9 h 8 ra the 

 arch had moved southward, Pollux touched the north of the 

 bow, the west leg extended over a Orionis, and the east leg was 

 still upon « Coronae Borealis, but this star had been moving 

 in its apparent track by the earth's motion for the space of 

 twenty-three minutes. He saw several small clouds move be- 

 fore and cover portions of it for a few seconds of time. 



From Kirkby- Stephen, about forty-five miles east of White- 

 haven, a good description of the phaenomenon is given in the 

 Westmorland Gazette. The mean breadth of the luminous 

 arch exceeded that of the rainbow, the vertex broader, the 

 extremities narrower, and the light more dense. The arch 

 gradually faded about 10 P.M., having existed nearly two 

 hours. The light was white and transparent. Position at 

 9 P.M., the arch of a great circle from E. 25° N. through the 

 zenith to W. 25° S. At first the eastern extremity of the 

 arch was near /3 Herculis, thence it passed the north side of 

 Corona Borealis, through the midst of the seven stars in the 

 Great Bear, over the zenith to the north of Castor, exactly 

 over Bellatrix, after which it contracted to a point in Eridanus 

 just above west. This writer makes no mention of any appear- 

 ance of the common aurora borealis at the same time. 



Accounts from Penrith were much the same as the preced- 

 ing ones ; but I had no opportunity of seeing any of them. 



At Kendal, which is 1 10 or 1 15 miles S. of Edinburgh, and 

 very nearly on the same magnetic meridian, (consequently the 

 same part of the arch must have crossed the meridian at both 

 places,) the following is a description of the phaenomena as 



they 



