seen in London, September 25, 1827. 417 



hunting-grounds of the hunters and their dogs, and which 

 frightens the very dogs, and pins them to the ground till it is 

 passed, or has seemed to pass ; is this the *^ constant attendant 

 of clear evenings," or, is it a prodigy so uncommon as to defy 

 familiarity ? But, if this evidence is insufficient, let us look to 

 what is said of its influence, in these countries, on the subse- 

 quent state of the atmosphere. So far from the Aurora being 

 an attendant or follower of clear evenings, it seems that clear 

 evenings follow the Aurora ! It is said, that after its occur- 

 rence, clear and calm weather is customary to follow ; and, 

 here, the expression itself is implicative of the rarity of the 

 occurrence. If it were constant, how should this result come 

 to be noticed ; and, indeed, if the Aurora Borealis were the 

 constant attendant of each twenty-four hours, and if clear 

 weather were usually in the train of the Aurora Borealis, how 

 could it ordinarily happen, that there should be any thing else 

 than clear weather, in the countries visited by the Aurora, or 

 any foul weather for the Aurora to dispel ? Yet, such is the 

 established prejudice concerning this supposed frequency 

 of the more powerful displays of the Aurora in the climates 

 further to the North than our own, that a writer, quoting the 

 very statement above, absolutely prefaces it with the remark, 

 that Gmehn, in pointed terms, speaks of the Aurora as " fre- 

 quent,'* as well as " very loud," " in the North-eastern parts 

 of Siberia*!" A simple perusal, in the meantime, is sufficient 

 to show, that Gmelin says nothing affirmative as to its fre- 

 quency; while a slight consideration of the facts which he 

 adduces must satisfy us, as no doubt they satisfied Gmelin 

 himself, that the occurrence, even m Siberia, is actually infre^ 

 quent I 



XI. In reference, however, as well to the image presented 

 above, of '* a vast tent expanded in the heavens, glittering 

 with gold, rubies, and sapphires ;" as also to many less 

 ambitious and figurative descriptions of the spectacle of the 

 Aurora Borealis, (not excepting that indicted by himself,) 

 the author is anxious to suggest a caution against the too 

 exaggerated conception of the realities intended. Words, 

 • pncyclopsedia Britannica. 



