prevalent Disorders, fyc, with Volcanic Emanations. ISO 



vals exactly proportional to the usual progress of the atmo- 

 spherical convulsions in a true hurricane. 



November was distinguished by some striking atmo- 

 spherical phenomena. On the 2d, the northern sky, as seen 

 from this place, was covered with luminous clouds * ; on the 

 3d, occurred a very brilliant display of the aurora borealis, 

 seen all over England ; followed, on the 4th, by one of less 

 brilliance, and a heavy gale, with rain, which blew all that 

 night, and the next day, from s. and s.w. ; the motion of 

 the aurora being to the westward. (See Mag. Nat. Hist., 

 VIII. 97.) On the 4th, also, occurred, in Nevis, what is 

 there provincially called a " season," namely, a tremendously 

 heavy rain, with thunder and lightning, cooling down the 

 previously unusually heated atmosphere. Gales followed 

 these displays of the aurora, from the 6th to the 10th, rang- 

 ing all round the compass, and doing great damage in Eng- 

 land. On the 7th, they blew from e. to s.w. ; and on the 

 10th, from n.e. to w. In many places, as in the Isle of Man, 

 they assumed the character of the hurricane, alternating calms 

 and furious squalls. On the 10th, the aurora was again 

 visible, from n.w. to n.n.e., from 6 to 9 p.m. On the night 

 of the 13th, the wind blowing steadily, with a clear sky, from 

 e.n.e, there was a brilliant exhibition of meteors, from 1 1 p.m. 

 of the 12th to near daylight of the 13th, corresponding with 

 former occurrences of a similar kind on this day of the month ; 

 and seen the same night, as stated in the American journals, 

 in the state of New York. The particulars are as follow : — 

 " The meteors came according to the predictions of several 

 scientific gentlemen ; among them, Professor Olmsted of 

 Yale College, and a correspondent of this paper. Professor 

 Olmsted and a large number of the college faculty and 

 students sat up during the night of the 13th, anxiously wait- 

 ing to see whether the prophecy founded on the history of the 

 meteors would be accomplished. At about 3 o'clock they 

 were gratified with the beginning of the shower, and it con- 

 tinued for an hour. The meteors were not so numerous as 



* The winds corresponded, in their changes, with these phenomena. 

 On Nov. 2., the wind changed to the west in lat. 41° 15' n., long. 33° 33' 

 w., and blew from that quarter till the 8th; when, in lat. 49° 28' n., long. 

 10° 37' w., it again became easterly, blowing, through that space, strong 

 gales : so that Capt. Polkinghorne, who gives me this information, sailed 

 under close-reefed topsails. Captain Sullivan had similar weather, from 

 Oct. 24. (in lat. 37° 9' n., long. 30° 59' w., the wind heavy, with lulls from 

 n. to s. ; backing round to the eastward, with two days' intermission, 

 when it was s.w.) till Nov. 28. On the 8th, the cold was great in Russia, 

 the thermometer at St. Petersburg being 5° or 6° below freezing : cor- 

 responding with the change of wind on that day. 



