Aurora as seen near Manchester. 635 



have been furious gales, heavy tropical rains, and snow, 

 thunder, and lightning, unusual in these latitudes at such a 

 late season. I give a few examples. — Sept. 3. Very heavy 

 shocks of earthquake in Zante, Cephalonia, and the coast of 

 Greece. — Sept. 22. Three shocks at Agram. On the 24th, 

 a heavy shock at Barbadoes, contemporaneous with a most 

 desolating thunder-storm and tempest of wind on the skirts 

 of Vesuvius. (Does this not imply that there was some corre- 

 sponding excitement in that mountain?*) From the 1st to 

 7th of October, continual shocks at Agram, destroying the 

 place. On the 18th, there was an aurora at Geneva (the 

 same day of a similar phenomenon at the same place in 1836) ; 

 and from the 23d of October to the 2d of November, a suc- 

 cession of most violent storms in Belgium, France, Scotland, 

 Denmark, England, &c. ; followed by an aurora on the 5th 

 at London. 



Stanley Green, Nov. 15. 1837. 



Art. V. Notice of Aurora Borealis, as seen at Brookfield, near 

 Manchester. By J. H. Stanway, Esq. 



I send you the accompanying notices of an Aurora Borea- 

 lis which was visible here on Sunday evening, for insertion in 

 your Magazine of Natural History, if you deem them to be 

 possessed of sufficient interest. The appearances were more 

 than ordinarily brilliant, and were accompanied, as you will 

 see, by constantly varying indications of the needle,, 



The extent of the latter was ascertained by a variation tran- 

 sit instrument, made for me by Mr. Simms of Fleet Street, 

 the correct adjustment of which, with reference to the meri- 

 dian, had been verified by repeated observations of high and 

 low stars, and by which the variations at this place for the 

 month of October, from a mean of eighty-one observations, 

 had been shown to be 26° 49' 9" ; and for November, from a 

 mean of thirty-one observations, 26° 48' 45". 



My attention was also last night directed by the oscillations 

 of the needle, to the existence of an Aurora Borealis ; but, by 

 reason of the interference of clouds, it was not long visible. 



The variations noted were as below: — 



H, M. 



11 15 



45 



At half-past twelve, a patch of the most intense blood-red 

 colours which I have ever seen was visible, free from the 



* The state of the mountain on the 12th of September was such as to 

 lead to the idea of a speedy eruption. 



