13G Gannett's Account of the Aurora Borealis. 



XI \'. An Account of a Ourious and Singular Appearance 



the Aurora Borealis, on the 2Ttli of March 1781, h?/ Caleb. 



Gan>ttt, esq. f. a. a. 



HE Aurora Borealis is a plienomenon, which, though 

 of great antiquity, if not observed by the first inhabi- 

 tants of the earth ; yet a satisfactory cause of it has never been 

 assigned. Its region has been generally supposed that of the 

 clouds. A greater elevation however has by some observers 

 been suo-<rested. Could sufficient data be obtained to ascer- 

 tain its height, possibly it might be of great use in an attempt 

 to investigate the cause. These data must be expected from 

 repeated and careful observations of the aurora, and the 



> 



ral 



2 it, at different times. With 



cr 

 a 



this view is offered the following observation of an uncom- 

 mon, and curious appearance of the aurora in the even- 

 ing of the 2Yth of March last. 



Mr. Mellen, the Philosophical Tutor in the University of 

 Cambridge, being abroad in the beginning of the evcnmg, 

 gives the following account- that a dusky vapour, appearin 

 like a cloud, lay extended along the horizon from N. N. W. 

 to N. E. Its upper edge "was uneven and changeable. 

 Above it was a body of light, strong and vivid, which emitted 

 streams of a pale colour, but bright, long, and frequent. 

 About half past 9 o'clock, there arose nearly in the east, a 

 column of steady light, inclining considerably to the 

 south. From the upper side of this column, the light soon 

 began to issue, not in flashes or streaks, but rather in a sheet 



like 



