444 Dr. Burney on Parhelia, &c. [Junex, 
Parhelia and Paraselene, with Solar and Lunar Halos, and 
their Effects; the Aurora Borealis; and coloured Meteors ; 
seen at Gosport. 
Oct. 17.—At half-past seven, a.m. a solar halo, 44° in diame- 
ter, appeared, and at its eastern edge there was a coloured 
Parhelion of the same altitude as the sun; a thin Cirrostratus 
was in the vicinity of, and a close corona round the sun at the 
time. The barometer, which had been rising, began to sink in 
two hours after the appearance of the Parhelion, till a shower of 
rain descended the next day, by the inosculation of Cirrostratus 
and Cumulz, thus indicating a change in the weight of the atmo- 
spheric column. 
28. Parhelia.—From a quarter till half-past eight, a.m. two 
Parhelia appeared, each beng 22° 30’ distant from, and of the 
same altitude as, the sun: the first Parhelion in the 8.8.E. 28. 
was remarkably bright, with the usual prismatic colours 
(increasing and decreasing at intervals), and apparently as large 
as the moon in a horizontal view, and somewhat like her full 
illuminated disc when rising of a golden colour over a bank. of 
haze near the horizon. The second in the E.S.E. 4 E. progress- 
ively increased in size and colours till the first disappeared, but 
was not so large nor so bright, nor did it continue so long in 
eight: it was of the apparent size of the disc of the real sun 
when about 18° in altitude. The vivid red, yellow, pale blue, 
and silvery colours of the first, were no doubt increased from the 
sun being hidden, and from his direct rays being confined by a 
Cirrostratus, except at the very point of formation of the mock- 
sun, which just cleared the edge of that cloud, in an apparently 
clear but vapourous space. No solar halo was perceptible at 
the time ; but a circular, whitish light, or corona, about 321° in 
diameter, appeared round the sun, in consequence of the 
vapourous state of the lower atmosphere. 
Height of the barometer, 30:05 inches ; of the thermometer, 
53°; hygrometer of De Luc, 88°; and the wind atS.W. At 
nine o’clock an arched band of plumose Czrrus passed over to 
the eastward, followed immediately by an overcast sky, and 
some light rain fell in the afternoon. On the following day and 
night, the sky was completely shrouded with Cumudostratus. 
31.—A stormy day, except two hours’ sunshinein the afternoon. 
Aurora Borealis—From 1] till midnight there was a fine 
display of the Aurora Borealis between the N.N.W. and N.E. 
points. Some of the beams were very brilliant, and of cylin- 
drical and conical shapes ; they ascended about 28° above the 
northern horizon, and varied in colour, according to the density 
of the medium through which they passed. The horizontal light 
avas most extensive, tending to the magnetic east and west at 
36 minutes past 11. During the appearance of these corusca- 
tions, several small meteors fell almost parallel to the largest 
pillars of light—a circumstance much in favour of Mr, Dalton’s 
