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 SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 



METEOROLOGY. 



1. Heavy fall ofRain^ and frequent appearance of Aurora 

 Borealis, in September 1830. — ^ At the .Calf of Man Low Light- 

 house, on the morning of the 16th September, there was a re- 

 markably heavy fall of rain. " In the course of little more 

 than four hours (says Mr James Macintosh, the light-keeper), 

 I found ninety parts in the gauge. At a quarter past eleven 

 o^clock p. M. it began lightly, and it gradually increased till 

 twelve, when it came down in torrents. This continued till 

 near four o'clock in the morning, when the rain entirely ceased. 

 Although it blew a gale that day, there was not a breath of 

 wind during the fall of rain, but the wind rose immediately 

 afterwards. The Edinburgh Chronicle takes notice of floods in 

 several places in Scotland, of the same date; so I presume we 

 had the first of the heavy rain here, as the direction of the 

 wind, both before and after the rain, was from the S. W. Du- 

 ring the course of this September (adds Mr Macintosh), I have 

 to record no fewer than nine appearances of the aurora borealis, 

 the dates being the 7th, 10th, 12th, 13th, 17th, 19th, 20th, 

 21st, and 25th." 



2. Water Spout in the Lake of Neufchatel. — On the 9th 

 June, at nine o'clock in the morning, the weather being moist, 

 and the thermometer at 64° Fahr. a water-spout was seen at 

 Neufchatel, on the other side of the lake, about a league from 

 the fort. From a fixed black cloud, about eighty feet above 

 the surface, descended perpendicularly a dark-grey cylindrical 

 column, touching the surface of the lake. Much agitation was 

 seen at the foot and top of the column, a dull heavy sound was 

 heard, and the waters of the lake were seen to mount rapidly 

 along this sort of syphon to the cloud, which gradually became 

 whit? as it received them. After seven or eight minutes had 

 elapsed, a north-east wind pressed upon the column, so that it 

 bent in the middle, still however raising water, until at last it 

 separated. At the same moment, the cloud above, agitated and 

 compressed by the wind, burst and let fall a deluge of rain. 



