190 Miscellanies. 
principally by the sentinels, and by the officers, when going their 
rounds; also by the ecclesiastics, and by the subordinates, and by 
many other persons. Monsieur Milordou, the principal priest of 
the cathedral, stated in the account which he gave of this occur- 
rence, that the interior of the cathedral was sometimes suddenly 
illuminated by the light of this brilliant phenomenon. Monsieur 
Itschitow, lieutenant-colonel of the 3d battalion of the line of Oren- 
burg, also confirmed these statements in his report, which as an 
additional ground of confidence, contained the accounts of the sen- 
tinels in the several positions in which they had been posted. Dur- 
ing the same. night, and almost at the same hour, a not less remarka- 
ble appearance was witnessed at Hitzkaja-Saschtschita, about sev- 
enty-five miles to the south of Orenburg. ‘Two columns of a white 
color rose from the horizon equidistant from the moon, which at the 
time had not risen far; about the middle of their height they ap- 
peared brilliant and much curved. Several horizontal bands sprung 
from this point, the most brilliant of which extended towards the 
moon, in which they appeared to unite, so that in this way they ap- 
peared to forma great H. In the town of Ufa, the seat of the gov- 
ernment of the same name, situated 380 miles to the north of Oren- 
burg, a phenomenon similar to that which was observed at Hitzkaja- 
Saschtschita, was perceived, but, according to the accounts which 
have been given, it was not quite so brilliant.”—Edin. new Philo. 
Jour. July, 1836. 
13. Declination and Inclination of the Magnetic Needle at Pa- 
ris.—On the 9th of November, 1835, at 14. 8’ P. M. we found that 
the northern extremity of the magnetic needle pointed to the west of 
the astronomical north, 22° 4’. On the 3d of July, 1835, at 9h. 
morning, the inclination was 67° 24/ —Arago in the Annuaire, 
1836, p. 349. 
14. Progressive Rise of a portion of the bottom of the Mediterra- 
nean.—M. Theodore Virlet lately addressed a note to the French 
Academy of Sciences, in which he directed the attention of geolo- 
gists to the probability of the speedy appearance of a new island in 
the Grecian Archipelago, in consequence of the progressive rise of a 
sunken solid rock, (composed of trachytic obsidian ?) in the gulf of 
the volcano of Santorin. ‘The following are the author’s observations 
on this subject :—‘ Towards the end of the last century, at the peri- 
