76 Inteltigence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



sky partially cleared before sunset, and though large patches of rain 

 cloud hung about, the sun set with a clear red horizon. 



The evening was cold ; stars visible j the wind gentle, N. or N.byW. 



At 6^ 40"^ a broad diffused light appeared in the northern hemi- 

 sphere J it gradually became more intense, and at 7^ had lowered its 

 upper and raised its under edges, and assumed the form of a well-de- 

 fined arch or segment of a circle. The apparent altitude of the upper 

 edge was about 30°, and the breadth about 8° or 10°. The eastern 

 wing bore about N.N.E., and the western about S.E.E., both resting 

 on the horizon. 



The light of the arch was white, and the stars were visible through 

 it ; there were no clouds in its neighbourhood, nor any waves or al- 

 terations in the intensity of its light, nor any black band. 



At a few minutes past 7 a lofty vertical column of yellowish white 

 light shot upwards from the horizon, at its eastern side, to the zenith, 

 where it was lost. Its edges were perfectly straight and exactly de- 

 fined, particularly the western. It soon became faint from below, and 

 the upper part resolved itself into a cloudy mass of deep red light, re- 

 markable for depth and brilliancy of colour, being equal to that of the 

 richest red stained glass. In a few seconds a similar column rose 

 about 60° in altitude on the western side, and almost at once became 

 a broad cloud of rich rosy light, so bright as to appear like the reflec- 

 tion of a near and great conflagration. Through this, white vertical 

 streamers several times shot. Towards the zenith the stars appeared 

 red through it. 



The arch now began to depress itself, and the light gradually faded, 

 first of the two cloudy columns, and of these the eastern first, and 

 afterwards the arch itself. By 8^ lO'" it had all disappeared and the 

 night become overcast. By 11^ it had become so clouded that no 

 stars were visible. There was no other meteor seen. 



The altitudes and bearings given are to be considered merely as 

 approximations, as from the shortness of duration of the aurora and 

 other circumstances I was enabled to make no instrumental observa- 

 tions, and my reason for communicating results having such little 

 pretensions to exactness is to draw attention to the recurrence of red 

 auroras at this early season, one having been observed at Ryde, as 

 noticed in the last Number of the Phil. Mag., and another, but of a less 

 important character, having been visible to night (October 5), at 

 7^ So"™. It would appear not unimportant to observe the colour of 

 the sky at sunset, at all times when possible, in connexion with the 

 colour of auroras, as this might afford some indication how far the 

 colour was due to atmospheric interference, and possibly give some 

 indirect clue in solving the question of the altitude of the region of 

 auroral phaenomena. Robekt Mallet. 



Dublin, October, 6, 1836. 



2. Aurora observed at Dublin, October 1 1, 1836. 



This aurora was different to three others seen this season and the 

 many observed last winter. Captain Back, in his Journal, describes 

 and figures one which very much resembled that seen last evening. 



