AURORA BOREALIS, 119 



of an article he wrote in the Durham Advertisei', November, 1830. 

 In this case, the Aurora was seen at eleven, p. m., when it was 

 considerably to the westward of north at twelve (midnight), the 

 summit of the luminous arch was due north. He adds, " Those who 

 may have remarked the radiations of the Aurora have probably 

 been struck by their similarity to those beams of light which 

 radiate from the sun when partially observed by a cloudy atmo- 

 sphere. They may also have observed with us that the radiations 

 for the most part appear to proceed from that spot under the 

 horizon in which the sun would be seen, if not concealed by the 

 body of the earth, and that the summits of the accompanying 

 arches of light are always seen directly above the same spot. Is 

 it not then possible that the phenomena of the Aurora may origi- 

 nate in the light of the sun refracted at an immense elevation 

 above us, after glancing over the nebulous strata of a distant part 

 of the earth's atmosphere ?" — In like manner, the registers of the 

 Aurora in all the recent voyages to the Polar Regions corroborate 

 my theory, although different conclusions, or conjectures, were 

 hazarded respecting its nature and origin, and to which I must 

 refer my readers as they are too numerous for insertion. 



I may conclude by adding, that my theory has been submitted 

 to the celebrated Professor Schumacher and others, who made no 

 objections to it. 



JOHN ROSS. 



