ACCOMPANYING THE AURORA BOREALIS. 619 
and that was nearly forty-two years since ; it is 
described at length in my Meteorological Obser- 
vations, published soon afterwards. ‘There was 
another very fine Aurora seen in 1826, of which 
I wrote an account published in the Philosophical 
Transactions of the Royal Society the same 
year. This was extensively seen, and variously 
described by observers, from Edinburgh to 
Warrington. It ought to have been seen at 
Manchester, but probably the cloudy atmosphere 
prevented ; some streamers however were seen 
here about the time when the arch disappeared 
at other places. 
I believe no modern meteorologist has ex- 
pressed a doubt that this arch-like appearance in 
the sky is only a modification of the more common 
appearance of the Aurora Borealis. In fact, the 
common streamers generally, if not always, ac- 
company the arch, but mostly at a great distance 
from it in the heavens, and as if the accompani- 
ment was accidental. 
Every one who will take the trouble of strip- 
ping the auroral phenomena of their optical illu- 
sions, must be aware that the common streamers 
are beams of light almost vertical, or perpendicu- 
