Meteors. 



Lightning is found to be a flash, pro- 

 duced by the electrical fluid rush ing from? 

 one part into another ; and thunder the 

 sound of the rushing torrent, reverbera- 

 ted among the clouds. The aurora bo- 

 realis, or northern dawn, is likewise an 

 electrical phenomenon. It is a lambent 

 or flashing light, seen at night in some 

 periods more often than in others, espe- 

 cially about the poles. The fery -balls, 

 \vhich are seen shooting through the at- 

 mosphere in the night, of various magni- 

 tudes and of different forms, seem all to 

 rise from inflammable vapours, taking 

 lire from their fermenting, or effervescing 

 in the air. 



The Rainbotv is one of the most sur- 

 prising of the works of God, which the 

 Hebrews called the bow of God, and the 

 Greeks the Daughter of Wonder. This 

 phenomenon is seen in the falling rain or 

 dew, and not in the cloud whence that 

 rain or dew proceeds ; it is caused by a 

 reflection and refraction of the sun's rays 

 from the globular particles of rain. The 

 face of this beautiful iris, or bow, is ting- 

 ed with all the primogenial colours in 

 iheir natural order; viz* violet^ indigo , 



