56 



zeuitli, four to six degrees in breadth, and faintly visible down to tlie soutlieast" 

 ern horizon. It was very white, and at the peii>id of its greatest brightnesa 

 crossed the'track of the moon, which shone distinctly, thongh somewhat dimned, 

 through the aurora. The lower edge of the arch was bordered by a rim about 

 half the width of the arch itself, of well-defined and dense blackness, so that 

 as the moon dipped it was cut oft' as sharply behind the rim as if it had sunk 

 behind a solid obstruction. It reappeared through thin clouds on the lowex 

 edge of the rim. and the aurora soon after began to fade. — i^. 31. Ht>j)kiHs. 



LIGHTXIXG. 



December 7. — TIarrisonville, Missouri. Some distant thunder in the south, 

 west about 6 a. m. Rain commenced about 5 a. m.. and continued till 1 p. m. 



December 13. — Upper Alton. Illinois. Barometer quite low; rain beginning 

 early in the morning : thunder ; showery through the day ; towards night 'vrind 

 changed to west ; sleet, snow, and min. 



December 13. — Laborville, (post office Fox creek,) Missouri. Heavy thun- 

 der in the south at 5 a. m., and passed over to the north. At S a. m. still 

 thundering in the north, lightning zigzag. 



December 14. — Belfast, Maine Forenoon foggy ; highest temperatuit? during 

 the day forty-live degrees ; snow all gone ; ground bare. Afternoon foggy, 

 misty, wind east: thunder shower at 4 p. m., with heavy fall of rain, ending in 

 night. 



December 14. — Williamsburg. !Maine. Commenced to niin at 6 p. m. Thun- 

 der and lightning from 6 to half past 6. Rain continued till about 4 o'clock 

 next morning, foiling to the amount o{ three-quarters of an inch. It thawed the 

 ground only one or two inches on the top. 



December 14. — Lisbon, Maine. !Mist and {o^ till 3.30 p. m : then heavy thun- 

 der shower from southeast, lasting three-quarters of an hour ; then heavy rain 

 till S p. m. 



December 14. — Coruish%-ille, Maine. Heavy thunder in the south at 35 p. m. 

 December 14. — Exeter, New Hampshire. Dark at 2 J p. m. Thunder and 

 lightning. 



December 14. — Hampton, New Hampshire. The telegraph office was struck 

 bv lightning during the shower this afternoon, and the outside wu-es burned off, 

 and the apparatus disabled. Xo person was in the room at the time. — Xeirsjjajjcr. 

 December 14. — Boston. 3[assachusetts. The weather on the 14th was very 

 mild, and until 6 p. m. cloudy. At sunrise it was very foggy ; at 11 a. m. show- 

 ers of rain began to fall, and continued six hours. Some of them were heavy, 

 and the one at 2h p. m., which was accompanied by two flashes of distant light- 

 ning and thunder, as heavy as any here this year. Between 6 and 11 p. m. the 

 weather was partially, at times nearly, clear; at 11 p. m. it was again cloudy; 

 and at Hi p. m. there was another shower. This morning, (loth.) since 6 

 o'clock, the weather has been very clear, cooler, and windy, but very fine. — 

 Meteorological Corresjtondent. Boston Traveller. 



December 14. — Topsfield, Massachusetts. Considerable lightning, accompa- 

 nied with thunder at the east and northeast. 



December 14. — Fishkill Landing, New York. Thunder shower at 4 p. m. 

 December 14. — Mount Holly. New Jersey. About 3 p. m. a heavy cloud 

 came up from the northwest, from which fell a copious shower of rain and some 

 hail, the stones being about the size of peas and smaller, attended by high wind, 

 and a single clap of thunder. 



December 14. — Sykesville, Maryland. Between noon and 1 p. m. lightning, 

 thunder, rain, and hail ; continued fifteen minutes ; fifteen minutes after one a 

 splendid rainbow. 



December 16. — Chattanooga, Tennessee. One of the severest thunder-storms 



