30 On the Question of Annual Meteoric Display. 



a long train, the circumference nearly as large as a man's 

 head. Rain followed at noon, lasting till night. On the 

 15th and 16th falling stars, not numerous, but frequent, a 

 little to the south of the zenith, at this place ; direction gene- 

 rally to the north-east. Clouds immediately followed, obscur- 

 ing the stars, before seen distinctly. No snow or frosts here 

 this autumn, save one or two hoar-frosts. On the 17th, at 

 7 p. M., in the south, the aurora rather bright, streaming 

 from a very black cloud, extremely low in the atmosphere. 

 Stanley Green, Nov. 19. 1835. 



[An addition subsequently made by Mr. Clarke.] 



12th. — At 9J p.m. a splendid meteor rushed from the Pleiades 

 to Ursa Major, leaving a train of sparks and balls of fire, 

 which were visible several seconds after the meteor vanished. 



14th. — Very sudden cold, with frost and snow, at Stras- 

 bourg ; thermometer there at — 7° R. Cold more intense 

 in other places of Rhenish Bavaria ; the thermometer at 

 — 12° R. 



17th.— Clouded; aurora in the south, about 30° high ; night 

 very dark. 



18th. — Splendid aurora, with merry dancers, from half-past 

 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. on 19th; the beams and coruscations shot 

 up past the zenith ; a triple arch formed. The cloud upon 

 which the lowest was formed gradually disappeared to the 

 north. By the accounts from Lincolnshire, Cumberland, 

 Middlesex, Kent, &c, it appears that aurorae were visible 

 all that night over those counties ; but, by comparison of the 

 time, it also appears that the aurorae travelled northerly, 

 appearing later constantly in that direction. There must 

 have been many that night ; and, from observations made here, 

 I think they were not very high, but greatly extended. The 

 magnetic needle vibrated perpendicularly during each fresh 

 jet and rush of the light to the zenith. 



18-1 9th (night). — Tremendous gale at Hamburgh and Cux- 

 haven from the north-west, producing great inundation. — Ice 

 broke up at Riga. The wind changed in the south of Eng- 

 land to west, with rain, just before the aurora. During the 

 time it was brightest, several meteors shot along the line, per- 

 pendicular to the auroral rays ; and one or two along the 

 edge of the cloud, leaving trains, immediately after which the 

 wind freshened. 



Stanley Green, Dorsetshire, Nov. 28. 1835. 



