6oo THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



At Madras, India, Professor C. Michie Smith, of the Christian 

 College, remarked the "perfectly rayless" and bright silvery-white 

 color of the sun on the 9th of September. The same was noticed 

 on the next day, but was succeeded, after the reappearance of the 

 sun from behind a cloud, by a bright pea-green color. This pecul- 

 iar color was again observed the next morning, and in the evening it 

 " was a magnificent spectacle, and attracted the notice of every one. 

 The silvery sheen was visible early in the afternoon, and the bright- 

 ness of the sun rapidly faded, till by about five o'clock one could look 

 at it directly without any difficulty. At this time there was a distinct 

 tinge of green in the light when received on a sheet of w^hite paper, 

 while shadows were very prettily tinted with the complementary pink. 

 As the sun sank toward the horizon the green became more and more 

 strongly marked, and by 5.30 it appeared as a bright -green disk, 

 W'ith a sharp outline. In fact the definition was so good that a large 

 spot (about 1' long) was a conspicuous object to the naked eye." 

 The green suns were also seen for several days about the 22d. The 

 spectrum, which Dr. Smith carefully examined, " showed clearly that 

 aqueous vapor played a large part in the phenomena, for all the atmos- 

 pheric lines usually ascribed to that substance were very strongly de- 

 veloped. But in addition to this there was a very marked general 

 absorption in the red." Abnormal electrical conditions of the atmos- 

 phere were noticed at this place in connection with the phenomenon. 

 Of an earlier date than any of these observations is a notice of a 

 " green sun," remarked at Panama on the 2d and 3d of September, the 

 same day. on which a blue sun and lurid sky were observed at Trinidad. 



The appearance of the green color in the sun and in parts of the 

 sky outside of the sphere of the red glow was also remarked in numer- 

 ous observations made in Europe. In one of the earliest notices of 

 the spectacle published in England, the writer says that at sunset " a 

 very peculiar greenish and white opalescent haze appeared about the 

 point of the sun's departure, and shone as if with a light of its own, 

 near the horizon. The upper part of this pearly mist soon assumed a 

 pink color, while the lower part was white, green, and greenish-yel- 

 low." Another observer, at Worcester, describes the blue of the sky 

 as having been changed to green and the green as being speedily 

 replaced by the ruddy tint ; and again, in the morning, " the color of 

 the sun changed to an exquisite emerald hue, staining the landscape, 

 and investing houses, buildings, glazed windows, and greenhouses 

 with a remarkably weird aspect." At sunset of the same day, " the 

 crescent of the moon, being just above the fringe of red light, assumed 

 a lively green hue, and continued to exhibit the novelty of an emerald 

 crescent " for a quarter of an hour. At other places, we read of the 

 contrast of the glow with " the pale greenish hue of the clear sky 

 around " ; of a crimson arch stretching from southeast to northeast, 

 " with a very clear greenish-blue sky beneath it in the east," and be- 



