634 Meteoric Notes on the Night of Nov. 12. 



from n. to s. having taken the same direction.- — At 8 h. 30 m. 

 the red hue had disappeared. — At 9 h. there were two columns 

 in n., the clouds in s. s. e. all coloured underneath, first bright 

 red, then dull red : a small meteor in the north. — At 9 h. 

 25 m. the red colour disappeared; the white clouds break- 

 ing up, and drawing towards isolated masses of vapour, still, 

 however, bounded by distinct lines of clear sky, well defined 

 on the east side ; to the west streaking and jagged, as if at- 

 tracted without direction. — 9 h. 45 m. White clouds rising all 

 round the horizon. The zenith appeared as if a thin veil 

 covered the stars. — 10 h. 5 m. Clouds rapidly clearing away, 

 as if partly absorbed. Red spots in the n.w., and in the very 

 middle of the arch in the magnetic east. — 10 h. 55 m. Wispy 

 clouds, sending out streaks from arch to arch, as if those 

 arches were changing their direction. — 12 h. Calm ; heavy dew, 

 the clouds in thick fleecy folds, still in arches converging to 

 s. e. covering the sky. — A halo forming round the moon. — ■ 

 From 12 p. m. to 4 a. m., 1 3th, no particular change, save the 

 completion of the largest halo I ever saw. — 6 a. m. Clouded all 

 over. — 9 a. m. Warm, fine rain falling, which continued from 

 n.w. all day till lip. m. — 12 p. m. Scattered clouds, very high, 

 over the whole heavens. No meteor seen this night. — 14th. 

 Rainbow at 10 a.m. in the north, light air, and gentle rain. 



As far as my observations go, therefore, there has been 

 this year no display of meteors on the 12th or 13th of No- 

 vember ; but its place has been occupied by a phenomenon 

 of frequent recurrence of late years, and which is, if I mistake 

 not, of a decided auroral character. Should my hypothesis 

 eventually prove correct, that the meteoric display itself is 

 nothing but an electrical phenomenon, consequent upon cer- 

 tain terrestrial and atmospherical derangements at a peculiar 

 season, the occurrence of this fresh example of red clouds on 

 the night of the 12th of November will be alleged in argu- 

 ment : but, at present, no conclusions can be drawn as to 

 the occurrence, or not, of any meteoric display, till we have 

 received accounts from other quarters of the globe. I would, 

 however, suggest that this red light appears to be electrical, 

 from its auroral character, and its evident connexion with 

 magnetic curves and halos ; which latter are, in my opinion, 

 of electrical origin ; and, further, that such red lights have often 

 been seen before, after, and during earthquakes ; examples of 

 which may be found in the Philosophical Transactions, and 

 elsewhere. Whether the earth is, or not, affected from the 

 earthquake cause (whatever it is) periodically, is more than 

 problematical. At any rate, the preceding two months have 

 evidenced that the earth has been in a violent state of excite- 

 ment, and the phenomena consequent upon that excitement 



