Mr William Stm-geon 07i the Aurora Borealis. ' \bo 



to the stars, though some of them occasionally shone without any 

 perceptible interruption. At one time Orion appeared as if com- 

 pletely covered with a flimsy mantle of a deep red colour ; so fiimsy, 

 indeed, that the principal stars, Beteigeuse, Bellatrix, and Rigel, suf- 

 fered but little from their usual splendour ; the natural red tint of 

 the former, however, was obviously enhanced by the auroral haze, 

 and the others slightly partook of the flimsy red tinge ; indeed, the 

 whole of the stars in the southern heavens were more or less dimmed, 

 and many of the smaller ones completely obscured. In the north, 

 also, and, indeed, on every side, a thin haze prevailed in obstructing 

 the natural refulgence of the stars, rendering them dim and gloomy. 

 There was a brisk south wind all the evening, and the thermo- 

 meter stood at about 34°. The whole display of the meteor on this 

 occasion, and also on the 18th of^ November, appeared to take place 

 in an atmosphere of highly-attenuated nubiferous matter. 



1849. Sunday, January 14. — Stormy morning of west wind and 

 heavy rain. The thermometer 50°, Very windy all day, with 

 heavy showers. A loud clap of thunder about noon, which was heard, 

 for several miles round this place ; and in the neighbourhood of 

 Warrington there were several flabhes of lightning seen, accompanied 

 with loud thunder. At three in the afternoon, the thermometer fell 

 to 43° and to 40° at night. The clouds entirely disappeared in the 

 evening, and the stars shone with a feeble lustre, indicating a great 

 abundance of aqueous vapour in the air. 



About half past eight a beautiful aurora borealis presented itself 

 in the shape of a well-defined luminous arch, which crossed the 

 northern heavens, and from which proceeded various groups of 

 streamers ; but nothing extraordinary was observed, though closely 

 watched, till eleven o'clock. The arch, in this case, was nearly, if 

 not exactly, at right angles to the true meridian. 



Monday, February 19. — Stormy west wind, vvith heavy rain- 

 clouds in the morning. Thermometer 47° ; it rose to 50 , and much 

 rain fell during the day. The wind continued high until evening, 

 when it slackened a little, but still kept up a strong cold breeze. At 

 night, there appeared an aurora borealis of the most extraordinary 

 character hitherto recorded in the history of the meteor. It com- 

 menced with the close of the day, with a strong glare of light in the 

 northern heavens, but without any definite shape or boundaries, and 

 continued in this condition till nearly eight o'clock, about which 

 time some faint colourless streamers appeared, and, occasionally, dim 

 flashes of light swept across the sky, generally from east to west, and 

 at a higher altitude than was reached by any of the streamers ; but 

 neither appeared to have any reference to the northern glare of light, 

 whicli continued nearly steady from first to last. The horizontal 

 span of this light i-eached from beneath the tail of the Great Bear, 

 or about the shoulder of Bootes on the eastern side, to nearly the 

 chest of Pegasus, on the western side ; but the boundaries were so 



