motes of tbc flfgbt 



a shadow of warning, the darkness is dissipated 

 by waves of colored light, the stars grow pale, 

 and day, without daylight, returns. This is the 

 aurora a meteoric phenomenon of such magni- 

 tude that we can not only see it but hear it. 

 We are told that now the magnetic needle is 

 disturbed, and we have noticed how the bright 

 flashes and strange rustling like a silken garment 

 have twisted weak minds out of sane paths. I 

 have witnessed hundreds of auroras and noted 

 their peculiarities, but not one, for general in- 

 terest, equaled, that of March 30, 1894. It would 

 be mere folly to attempt a description. There 

 was much color, some crackling noise, and a 

 flickering light on the earth's surface about equal 

 to that of the moon when full. The center of 

 illumination continually shifted, and once my 

 companion remarked : " See, Orion is taking an 

 electric bath." Curious to ascertain what, if any, 

 impression such an occurrence would have upon 

 animal life, I hurried to the nearest available 

 point, a long reach of the river shore, where the 

 stream was wide and the banks well wooded. 

 The birds were all awake, and I heard one song 

 sparrow sing its full song, while a whole host of 

 small birds twittered excitedly in the evergreens. 

 Fortunately there was no moon, and as the au- 

 rora came and went with startling abruptness, the 

 agitation was more marked among these roosting 

 birds than would have been caused by a steady 



