OF THE AURORA BOREALIS. 9 



same writer has delineated a remarkable arch observed by him on the 9th of 

 March, although an aurora which occurred on the 14th of July, appears to have 

 been the most remarkable of the year. 



In 1832, Dalton has recorded only ./lire auroras; but at this period the returns of 

 the academies of the State of New York, embodied in the annual reports of the 

 Regents, begin to furnish a more complete list of these occurrences, than had been 

 kept anywhere in this country anterior to that time. The number observed and 

 reported in the State of New York for 1832 was 24, the most remarkable of which 

 occurred on the 10th of April, and the 22d and 23d of August. That of Septem- 

 ber 25th, which was conspicuous in the State of New York, was also visible at 

 London and Edinburgh. 1 



Twelve only are recorded in Dal ton's list for 1833 ; but in the Eegents' report, 

 Ave find no less than thirty-six. The most brilliant were those of May lGth and 

 17th, July 10th, Sept. 5th, and November 3d. In September alone the phenome- 

 non was repeated no less than ten evenings. The instances which attracted most 

 attention in Great Britain during the year 1833, occurred March 21st, September 

 17th and October 12th, but none were observed in the State of New York on those 

 evenings. 



Dalton's catalogue extends only to February, 1834, a loss the less to be regretted 

 as from that time the phenomenon became more an object of attention to observers 

 on this side of the Atlantic, and the catalogue contained in the Regents' reports 

 becomes yearly more and more complete. During 1834, that report describes 

 thirty-two auroras, of which that of November 2d was the only one particularly 

 remarkable. 



In 1835, there is an unexpected falling off in the number of auroras, since in the 

 Regents' report the entire number for the year is only twenty-six; but the aurora of 

 November 17th of this year, was greatly distinguished for its magnificence and 

 beauty, and constitutes the first in the series of those entitled to rank in the first 

 class. It exhibited itself with very similar phenomena, though with features 

 somewhat varied at points very remote from each other, as at Montreal and New 

 York, at Dartmouth College and Cincinnati. 2 



Although minute descriptions of these grand exhibitions of the aurora 

 borealis, resembling each other as they do in many particulars, may, when re- 

 peated, become tedious by their monotony, yet it appears to me a matter of great 

 importance to science, to place on permanent record a full account of such displays 

 of this mysterious phenomenon, in order to furnish data for comparison at succes- 

 sive returns of the secular periods, and thus finally to establish its physical laws. 

 The following description of the great aurora of November 17th, 1835, was pub- 

 lished the next morning, by the author of this article, in the New Haven Daily 

 Herald:— 3 



" Last night, our northern hemisphere was adorned with a display of auroral 

 lights remarkably grand and diversified. It was first observed by the writer at 

 fifteen minutes before 7 o'clock, when an illumination of the whole northern sky, 



Phil. Mag., II, 233. 2 Amer. Jour., XXIX, 388. 3 Amer. Jour. Sci., XXIX, 389. 



2 



