PHOSPHORESCENCE. 59 



The following is however that of General Sabine 

 himself, which he has kindly given me in a let- 

 ter : te Before the ship entered into the Auroral 

 light, the Aurora as seen from the ship appeared 

 as an arch, formed partly of an uniform yellowish 

 light, and partly of vertical or nearly vertical 

 streamers proceeding out of the luminous arch 

 upwards. The centre of the arch was not far dis- 

 tant from the zenith, and the legs descended to- 

 wards east and west points. We were opposite to 

 one of the legs, and sailing towards it till we en- 

 tered it. We were sensible of having entered it, 

 by no longer seeing it as a distant appearance, 

 and by the moment of our entrance into it being 

 marked by a generally diffused light, enabling 

 those on deck to see distinctly men on the fore- 

 topsail yard, who we could not see previously." 

 The ship was sailing southward, and entered the 

 western leg of the luminous arch. 



At the meeting of the Literary and Philosophical 

 Society of Manchester on January 31, 1861, Mr. 

 Baxendell stated that many of the fogs observed 

 during that winter were luminous. Mr. Crosse 

 and other observers have found fogs to be highly 

 electrical. 



I will place here a passage from a Brussels cor- 

 respondent, who writes in 1860 : 



" On looking out of my bedroom window at two 

 o' clock on the morning of the 25th January, I 



