156 Tue Microscope. 
would prevent their rapid precipitation. Experiments have 
proved this, and heretofore volcanic dust has been known to 
remain aloft a long time. Shortly after this eruption at the 
Straits of Sunda, colored suns and strange glowing sunsets 
startled the inhabitants of comparative neighboring countries 
by their wierd appearance. These sunsets gradually spread 
over the earth, and were noticed in this country first in the lat- 
ter part of November, and during the winter were at their 
height. 
These reflections could not have been caused by the vapor 
of water, for reasons we will not stop to discuss, but must have 
come from finely divided solid matter. 
The gradual expansion of this phenomenon over the earth 
after the catastrophe at Java, and the finding of this peculiar 
deposit in snow from the Atlantic coast, in Missouri, and in 
Utah, at a time when the glowing sunsets were bright, force us 
to the conclusion that after its long flight from Krakatoa, we 
have imprisoned the cause of this great light under our cover 
glass beneath our objective. 
In confirmation of this, notice the following facts: April 
19th and 20th were days of almost continuous rain at St. Jo- 
seph, by which the air should have been washed clean of all 
local or surface dust. On the following day snow fell quite 
abundantly for a few hours; this was secured in clean vessels 
and melted. This contained a very limited amount of particles 
so small as to be quite difficult to handle, but the microscope 
showed them to be of the same character as their predecessors 
of the winter. At this time the brilliant sunset had faded to a 
faint blush that lingered after the ordinary tints of the setting 
sun had disappeared. Thus the sunsets and the attendant dust 
were disappearing pari pasu, and thereby strengthened our 
faith in what at first seems a preposterous proposition, viz: the 
snow sediment is voleanic dust from Krakatoa and the cause of 
the glowing sunsets. 
Since writing the above, some dust from Krakatoa that fell 
on the deck of the ship Wm. DeGrasse on the day following the 
eruption, has been received from Mr. Wharton, of Philadelphia. 
Although considerably coarser, its appearance is so strikingly 
