METEOROLOGY. 323 



OBSERVATIONS ON NATURAL PHENOMENA. 



BY STILLMAN MASTERMAN, ESQ. 



Weld, Maine, February 26, 185T. 



Dear Sir : Pnrsuaat to my promise, I present to you the registry 

 of certain miscellaneous natural phenoraena observed l3y myself during 

 a few past years, belonging principally to the departments of meteor- 

 ology and astronomy. Fragmentary and unsystematic as the obser- 

 vations are, they can be of comparatively little value ; however_, as 

 every phenomenon of nature, even the most trifling, is worthy of a 

 place in the great study of the universe, and as you are desirous of 

 collecting all registries of natural phenomena, I deem it proper to 

 place them at your disposal. The accompanying observations were 

 made with no idea of placing them before the public, but under the 

 conviction that perhaps they might be of some use in my future scien- 

 tific investigations. Moreover, they were conducted during fragments 

 of time which happened not to be taken up by what I considered to be 

 more imjtortant duties, therefore in many cases they are separated by 

 long intervals of time, not from the want of phenoraena to oDservc, 

 but from an inability to make trustworthy observations. So few ob- 

 servations afford very insufficient data for generalizations ; however, 

 the coincidence of certain results with those derived fr,)m more exten- 

 sive series are frequently very apparent. The following are some of 

 the well known principles which the annexed observations tend to 

 confirm : 



1. That shooting stars have been more numerous, at,least for a few 

 past years, on or about the 10th of August, and for a number of days 

 both befor > and after that date, than at other times of the year. 



2. Tliat these meteors frequently leave long bright trains behind 

 them in the sky. 



3. That during an exhibition they commonly have one general 

 direction of motion. 



4. That exhibitions of the aurora borealis commonly commence at 

 an early hour of the evening. 



5. That auroral exhibitions generally have their maximum before 

 midnight. 



6. That in our latitudes auroras have been seen in all parts of the 

 sky. 



7. That the zodiacal light may be seen, in the absence of the moon, 

 on clear evenings during the months of January, February, and 



i March. 



8. That this cone of light lies nearly in the plane of the ecliptic. 



9. That the zodiacal light at times may be traced above 90° from 

 the sun. 



Yours, truly, 



STILLMAN MASTERMAN. 

 Professor Joseph Henry, 



Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 



