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THE WORLD. 



continued. At this time, although the moon was down, yet its 

 absence produced little change in the general illumination ; the 

 landscape appeared still as if enlightened by the moon, and it 

 was easy to discern the time of night by a watch, from the light 

 of the aurora." 



On the preceding page, is a view of the Aurora as witnessed by 

 the French philosophers in the year 1838 9, at Borekop, bay of 

 Alten, coast of W. Finmark, lat.70 N. It presented the form of a 

 scroll with folds overlapping, and waving like a flag agitated by the 

 wind. Its brightness varied very suddenly, and the colors changed 

 from bright red at the base, to green in the middle portions, and 

 yellow at the top. The brightness would diminish, and colors 

 fade, sometimes suddenly, and sometimes by slow degrees. After 

 this, the fragments would be gathered, and the folds reproduced; 

 the beams seemed to converge at the zenith which was doubtless, 

 the effect of perspective. 



But it is in the Arctic regions that this phenomenon is witnessed 

 in its greatest splendor, and presenting a variety of the most 

 beautiful tints. In that cold region, clouds seldom obscure the 

 sky, nothing in the form of fog or mist veils the deep blue of the 



