RECORD OF AURORAL PHENOMENA 



OBSERVED IN TUE 



HIGHER NORTHERN LATITUDES. 



Hartford, Ct.— Lat. 41° 45' 50" N. Long. 72° 40' 45" W. 1835,1836. A. C. Twining. 

 New Haven, Ct.— Lat. 41° 18' 30" N. Long. 72° 56' 45" W. do. 



"The height of auroral phenomena is a subject which has divided philosophers. Some consider 



them as lying in the lower regions of the atmosphere ; while others would elevate them beyond 



its supposed limits, or at least into its extreme upper regions. 

 It is my intention to prove, in three instances of late occurrence, that the latter opinion is the true 



one."— Am. Journ. Sc, XXXII, 217. 

 Auroral Cloud of December 10, 1835. — "Height above the surface of the earth, forty-two miles 



and one-third."— Ibid., p. 220. 

 Auroral Arch of August 12, 1836. — "Height above the surface of the earth, one hundred and 



forty-four and a half miles." — Ibid., p. 224. 

 Auroral Arch of May 8, 1836. — "Height, one hundred and sixty miles." — Ibid., p. 227. 



N. B. — Height of aurora, December 10, 1835, 42J miles. 

 Do. August 12, 1S36, 144£ miles. 



Do. May 8, 1836, 160 miles. 



Columbia Co., N. Y.— Lat. 42° 30' N". Long. 73° 20' W. Autumn of 1S06. W. 



" To the Editor of the American Magazine. Sir: I do not recollect to have read, or heard, that 

 any person had ever witnessed the exhibition of an aurora lorealis in the daytime, and when the 

 air was perfectly clear and the sky unclouded. 



It is some years since I witnessed this, in company with many other persons; and having spoken 

 of it to some friends, lately, in New York, I have been solicited to communicate the facts to the 

 public. If you think them worth publishing, they are at your service. 



I do not now precisely recollect the year, but it was about 1806, that I was employed, during several 

 successive days, in surveying some lands near the northeast extremity of the County of Columbia, 

 in the State of New York. The lands, comprising three or four farms, were to be subdivided 

 among the heirs of a person then lately deceased, and were situated on some of the highest hills 

 of that county. I was, of course, constantly attended by some eight, ten, and even twenty 

 persons of the parties concerned, who all witnessed what I am going to relate. 



It was late in autumn, and so cold that ice formed every night, and hardly all disappeared during 

 the day. The air was very transparent, and, so far as I now recollect, none or but very few 

 clouds to be seen. For several nights in succession, the Northern Lights shone pretty bright, 

 in the valley where I slept, but disappeared in the morning. 

 1 



