360 Mary Somerville. 



it been in a state of anarchy. I regret to 

 see that La Place's house at Arcoeuil has been 

 broken into, and his manuscripts thrown into the 

 river, from which some one has fortunately rescued 

 that of the "Me'canique Celeste/' which is in his 

 own handwriting. It is greatly to the honour of 

 FreDch men of science that during the siege they 

 met as usual in the hall of the Institute, and read 

 their papers as in the time of peace. The celebrated 

 astronomer Janssen even escaped in a balloon, that 

 he might arrive in time to observe the eclipse of the 

 22nd November, 1870. 



* * * * * 



We had a most brilliant display of the Aurora on 

 the evening of Sunday, the 4th February, 1871, 

 which lasted several hours. The whole sky from 

 east to west was of the most brilliant nickering 

 white light, from which streamers of red darted up to 

 the zenith. There was also a lunar rainbow. The 

 common people were greatly alarmed, for there had 

 been a prediction that the world was coming to an 

 end, and they thought the bright part of the Aurora 

 was a piece of the moon that had already tumbled 

 down ! This Aurora was seen in Turkey and in 

 Egypt 



***** 



I am deeply grieved and shaken by the death of 



