398 Description of the Aurora Borealis 



and the other negligently overlooked, or unwarrantably contra- 

 dicted. The paragraphs, then, which immediately follow, will 

 connect and review the accounts of the writer's fellow-obsers'er 

 of the 25th of September ; while those which succeed will be 

 devoted to a brief enumeration of statements already recorded 

 in books ; though, to a certain extent, both these paths will 

 involve us in mixed investigations, historical and theoretical. 



1. " It first appeared," says Mr. Adams, who dates from 

 Edmonton, in Middlesex, ^' about eight o'clock in the evening, 

 as a strong white light, much resembling the approach of sun- 

 rise ; and so continued till a short time after eleven, when a 

 considerable number of dark clouds collected toward the north 

 and north-west, and several streaks of a pale white light were 

 seen proceeding from the clouds, and reaching nearly to the 

 zenith. But the most remarkable part of the phenomenon was 

 exhibited in a N.N. E. direction, where, at about 30° above 

 the horizon, was a small dense cloud, above which was a 

 broad streak curved, artd about 10° in length, varying in colour 

 from a deep copper hue to a red." '' From this," continues 

 Mr. Adams, ** the coruscations were incessant, and remark- 

 ably bright, darting frequently to the zenith, where they were 

 frequently crossed by others equally bright and numerous, 

 proceeding from the west toward the east." 



2. The astronomical writer, who dates from Deptford, de- 

 scribes the phenomenon as commencing at a quarter past eight 

 o'clock, and travelling, from west and north-west, to north- 

 east; and the streaks, or streamers, or, as he denominates 

 them, the flashes, " converging to the zenith," and " coruscating 

 with great velocity.'* He also particularises the peculiar ap- 

 pearance of " a streak or column of a phosphorescent violet 

 tinge ;" and adds, " The two red beams of light, seen in the 

 easterly and Westerly direction [directions], were diametrically 

 opposite to each other, and ninety degrees distant from the 

 violet light (by far the most luminous, though comparatively 

 quiescent) which was to the west of north, and therefore could 

 not be far from the magnetic meridian, which would be crossed at 

 right angles by a line joining the places of the red beams. The 

 southern edges of these were accurately defined, not blending 

 with the adjacent azure, but most distinct from it, and per- 



