REV. JAMES FARQUHARSON ON THE AURORA BOREALIS. 119 



the horizon in the N. rose upwards with greater quickness, becoming an arch, 

 and in a few minutes attained the first elevation of the one first described ; but 

 was much more brilliant at its lower side, where the light had a nebulous and 

 nearly uniform appearance, its upper side being shaded off gradually in the 

 form of pale vertical streamers : and as at this part of its progress some of the 

 streamers of the preceding arch remained still visible, one who had witnessed 

 them for the first time in this position might have taken both for parts of the 

 same arch, and so have been liable to draw very false conclusions regarding 

 the arrangement. The second arch soon expired also near the elevation of 23° 

 or 30° ; but not till a third one had risen from the horizon as it had done, forming 

 a still narrower and more brilliant zone of light. This attained speedily a like 

 ultimate elevation with its immediate predecessor ; and as it came forward to 

 this situation, two more arches equally narrow and brilliant, rose up in suc- 

 cession under it ; so that three low parallel arches were seen, at the same time, 

 in the northern part of the sky, each having its vertex at the magnetic me- 

 ridian, and each having both its extremities at the horizon. The whole became 

 gradually extinct about 9 o'clock. 



These five arches were all unusually flat, extending further both to E. and 

 W. than any I had seen before of equal elevation at tbe vertex ; seeming thus 

 to indicate that the fringes of streamers were of comparatively low elevation 

 above the surface of the earth. The last four were also unusually narrow from 

 side to side, indicating that the streamers were short. 



The evening was calm and frosty, and the sky cloudless, during the conti- 

 nuance of the aurora. Afterwards, about half past 10 o'clock, many low 

 clouds were seen in the region which had been occupied by the aurora, moving 

 rather quickly from the west, the rest of the sky continuing at the time cloud- 

 less. The following morning there was a fresh westerly breeze, with the thermo- 

 meter 46° Fahr., which continued through the day. These circumstances lead 

 me to suspect that the aurora was vertical over a valley five or six miles N. 

 of this place, whose longitudinal direction is E. and W. ; and through which I 

 have often seen the clouds driven from the west, with nmch velocity, at the 

 commencement of a westerly gale, several hours before the gale was felt here, 

 where a lofty ridge of hills shuts up the west side of our valley. 



ill fli Jonitxa^nimoDsd ^olud imibmm oilaa-Qmn 



