58 METEOROLOGICAL 
a stationary light resting on the water, and rising 
to a considerable elevation. Every other part of 
the heavens and the horizon all around the ship 
were in utter darkness. (Vide Frontispiece.) As 
there was no known danger in this phenomenon, 
the course of the vessel was not altered; and 
when the ship entered the region of this light, 
the officers and crew looked on with the liveliest 
interest. The whole vessel was illwminated ; the 
most elevated parts of the masts and sails, and 
the minutest portions of the rigging, became 
visible. 
The extent of this lwminous atmosphere might 
have been about 450 yards. When the bow of 
the ship emerged from it, it seemed as if the vessel 
were suddenly plunged in darkness. There was 
no gradual decrease of illumination. The ship 
was already at a considerable distance from the 
luminous region when it appeared still visible as 
a stationary heht astern. 
Many persons would look upon this curious 
phenomenon as an intensely phosphorescent mist. 
Several observations tend to prove that in these 
northern latitudes the density, and often the dry- 
ness, of the air, contribute much to the intensity 
of luminous apparitions, especially those which 
appear to depend upon electrical actions. The 
above is the account of this phenomenon as re- 
lated in F. Arago’s ‘Notice sur le Tonnerre.’ 
