j4 ON THE RECENT SECULAR PERIOD 



point of convergence, as well as it conld be determined, was found nearer and nearer 

 to Arcturus, indicating that the whole meteor moved with the earth. 1 During the 

 more brilliant stages of the phenomena, the stars looked very dim; and the moon, 

 previous to her setting, shorn of more than half her lustre, had a sickly, pallid 

 aspect. For the space of two hours after the disappearing of the auroral crown, 

 the illuminated portion of the heavenly dome exhibited, in great brilliancy and 

 variety, the phenomenon fancifully called the " merry dancers." It was the inces- 

 sant play of a flickering light, not so bright as the Vespertine, which in some 

 respects it resembled, glancing about in various directions, but chiefly towards the 

 zenith, over the vast expanse. Its motions were far too varied and fantastic to 

 admit of description. In general, one flash seemed to chase another, as they arose 

 in graceful undulations, or rather darted up the sky, along and between the white 

 auroral columns. At half past 11, the spectacle began to lose its attractive bril- 

 liancy. Still later, the luminous rays were intersected by two irregular belts of 

 white vapor, which appeared successively in the north and northeast, one of them 

 spanning an arc of about 30, the other about 40 or 45 degrees. About 12 o'clock 

 the " merry dancers" renewed the splendor of their exhibition, and continued it, in 

 less and less brillianc}^ for an hour. Between 11 and 12, a dark cloud had arisen 

 in the northeast ; before 2, the wind was blowing from the south, and the sky was 

 so far overcast as to hide completely from our view all that remained of magnifi- 

 cence and splendor. 



These two exhibitions of the aurora of April 22d (one of the greatest on record), 

 being both minutely described, and taking place at places removed from each other 

 by 24° of latitude, or by a rectilinear distance of nearly three hundred miles, 

 present circumstances very favorable for comparison, and we will pause a moment 

 to consider their points of similarity or dissimilarity. In both places the exhibi- 

 tion commenced about 7 o'clock, and was marked by like appearances of the 

 northern sky, although, as might be expected, the elevation of the aurora was less 

 at the southern than at the northern station. At the latter the display made slow 

 but constant progress ; while at the former it disappeared before 9 o'clock, leaving 

 nothing but a bank of white auroral vapor. Then, however, soon after 10, the 

 aurora revived, exhibiting abundant streamers. At half past 10, at the north, 

 commenced a grand display of auroral waves, which, at the south, appeared as a 

 beautiful play of crimson light, gracefully undulating upwards along the streamers. 

 At both places the magnificent aurora was formed about 11 o'clock; but in Mary- 

 land it lasted only ten minutes, while in Connecticut it was visible until after 12 

 o'clock. Although the display at the southern station was probably unparalleled 

 in that climate for splendor and magnificence, yet the greater abundance and more 

 sublime evolutions of the sheets of crimson vapor that flowed upward between 10 

 and 11 o'clock, as well as the more striking display of auroral waves, which lasted 

 all night, rendered the northern exhibition far the more grand and impressive. 



1 This merely indicates that, the point of convergence was the pole of the dipping needle, and, there- 

 fore, maintained a fixed position with respect to the meridian O. 



