No. III.] 



CAPTAIN FRANKLIN ON THE AURORA. 



553 



rence, as is evidenced by our having witnessed the Aurora upwards of two 

 hundred times without being able to attest the fact. I was almost inclined, last 

 year, to suppose that unusual agitations of the Aurora were followed by storms 

 of wind; but the more extended opportunities I enjoyed of observing it in 

 1821, at Fort Enterprise, have convinced me that no such inference ought to 



have been drawn. 



The Pith Ball Electrometer, which was placed in an elevated situation in the 



air, never indicated an atmosphere charged with "electricity. 



Upon a review of the observations made upon the dipping-needle, its varia- 

 tions appear to be so uncertain in their occurrence, that I cannot confidently 

 ascribe them to the influence of the Aurora. 



Observations were made on the Aurora Borealis 



1822, 



Moose-Deer 



Island, lat. 61° 18' 8" N. long. 113° 51' 35" W., variation, 25° 40' 47" E. 

 Being unwilling, however, to swell the Appendix more than necessary, I shall 

 not insert the tables, but merely remark, that 



Although the Aurora was frequently seen there, the coruscations were seldom 

 either brilliant or of the variable kind. They caused but little alteration in 

 the position of the needle ; the, greatest deviation observed being 1 8', and did 

 not furnish grounds for any additional inferences to those which were drawn 



from the observations on the Aurora made at Fort Enterp 



The display 



of light was generally confined to the northern part of the sky, between the 

 true N. E. and S. W. points, usually at a low altitude; and the Aurora was 

 observed extending to the southward on four occasions only. This, as well 

 as the circumstance of the magnetic needle being but slightly affected by 

 the presence of the Aurora during the winter at that place, appears to me 



be deserving of 



as affording an indication that the 



of the 



phenomenon lies more to the northward ; and were I to venture an opinion 

 as to its probable situation, I should say between the latitudes of 64° and 

 65° north, or about the position of Fort Enterprise, because the coruscations 

 were as often seen there in the southern as in the northern parts of the sky, 

 and I should consider that latitude the most favourable in this part of the 

 globe for making good observations on this interesting phenomenon. 





4 8 



