— 
Aurora Borealis of November 14, 1837. 281 
display was over. A few traces were seen fora little time longer, 
when every vestige disappeared.” . The time at Emmittsburg is 
183m. earlier than at New Haven. d: 
A letter from President Humphreys, of St. John’s College, 
Annapolis, Md., to Professor Olmsted, speaks of the Aurora of Nov. 
14, as “more magnificent than any that has ever before occur- 
red” there. Mr. Humphreys proceeds: ‘It [the Aurora] extended 
many degrees farther south than the great one in January. It 
came on in waves, as before, at about a quarter before six, and re- 
turned at seven, at eight, and at nine. The first arch was formed 
suddenly, and became vertical in a very few minutes, from the 
first appearance of the columns at the N. W. and 8. E. It was 
crimson, traversed by white pencils. The magnetic variation 
was diminished 1° 5’. It is here, west.” A communication al- 
so appears in the Republican, of Nov. 18, published at Annapolis, 
proceeding, likewise, probably from President Humphreys, and 
giving a more particular account of the returns at eight and nine. 
It is remarked that, “the color of the light at 8h. was not red, 
but dusky, and formed from the N. W. point to the pole star, a 
broad column, which kept its position for half an hour. A sue- 
cession of fine cirrous clouds floated off from the lower parts of 
the column to the south. At 9h. the recurrence of the crimson 
light was more in patches, and of intense brightness, accompanied 
by cirro-cumulous clouds, which were formed suddenly over the 
whole sky, and were borne swiftly to the east by the wind, and 
at apparently a greater elevation in the atmosphere than that of 
the Aurora.” 
The latter opinion of President Humphreys, in regard to the 
comparative altitude of the auroral and the ordinary clouds, is un- 
doubtedly a mistaken one. But for the presence of these latter, 
he would unquestionably have observed something more than 
patches of crimson light, since the corona was seen by persons in 
almost every direction from Annapolis. Difference of time be- 
tween New Haven and Annapolis, 15m. 
From Fairfax Co., Va., near Alexandria, Professor R. Tolefree 
writes, of the early display: “From E. 8. E. to W. S. W., was 
exhibited a rich orange red color, extending even to the zenith, 
and covering all the heavens north of these points.” Professor 
Tolefree observed the return, in a brilliant and fiery form, toward 
nine o’clock ; but he observes that, “ o a quarter past nine, the 
Vou. XXXIV. —No. 2. 
