42 



the first until it breaks on us, the progressive move- 

 ment is traced on a north and south line west of that 

 line is the storm east, fair weather ; the upper current 

 precedes somewhat the lower stratus, or "scud." When 

 the line is within a hundred miles we see this more plainly. 

 The under current of stratus a condensation in advance 

 of the storm is gradually spreading out on every side. 

 Towards night the prominent landmarks are hidden from 

 view. We can see that the lower stratus current is run- 

 ning under the advancing cloud. The cloud shuts down 



o o 



upon the mountain, all about us an easterly storm is rag- 

 ing, here it is a southwesterly or westerly one. 



A storm presenting its southern side to us is not so 

 interesting, as it condenses most rapidly on this side. On 

 the summit there are sometimes southeasterly storms, but 

 seldom one north of east. The great storm of October 

 4th, 1869, was from this direction, as was one short but 

 severe gale and heavy rain of March last. 



AURORA BORE ALIS. 



We witnessed many fine Auroras, but no new facts 

 regarding them are on record. It is to be regretted that 

 we were not prepared to observe to some extent, electri- 

 cal phenomena, particularly in connection with auroral 

 storms. The only peculiar features noticed were the 

 apparent nearness to the earth of the auroral waves, as 

 a rule ; and three times, displays when the moon was 

 past the first quarter. Our line, or our end of the line, 

 gave us much trouble at such times. With the insulated 

 \vire of the mountain station three miles in length, there 

 is afforded an opportunity for the study of electric cur- 

 rents in the terrestrial strata as well as atmospheric cur- 

 rents such as is seldom offered. The mountain is a gigan- 

 tic insulator, no "ground" being obtainable on the summit. 





