Nov. 15, 1883] 



NATURE 



55 



for some days at first, when I made very special inquiries, I 

 foumi that no rain had fallen within 100 miles of Madras. It 

 may perhaps be worth mentioning that from the 8th to the 14th 

 we have had tlie strange phenomenon of a bright green sun at 

 sunrise and sunset, the sun appearing as a rayle-s globe, at which 

 you couid easily l.)ol<, and yet so sharply defined that sunspots 

 couM be well seen with the naked eye. On the 22nd again, two 

 days after ihe i-lectricity had gone to positive, the green sun 

 reappeared, ai.d has now changed to a sort of golden green. I 

 do not say that there is any connection between the two, but 

 they seem worth mentioning together. I have got a large 

 number of observations which I will reduce as soon as possible, 

 and send to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, but there is no use 

 doing ihis till things return to their normal state. It is worth 

 pointing out that observations made at intervals of six hours 

 might have entirely failed to find the negative electricity. I 

 usually, for c^jnvenience, take observations at 9 a.m., before 

 leaving for college, and the next would be at three, and both 

 these are always positive. I have not got the exact scale of my 

 electrometer, but I find that 100 Darnell's cells give only 24 

 div. of a deflection, I am very much disappointed that I have 

 not got my new instniment yet. Had I had it I would have 

 been able to get simultaneous observations carried on at Madras 

 and at a place forty miles to the west, which might have given 

 valuable results. My present instrument, though working better 

 than before, needs constant recharging. For example, at noon 

 yesterday the earth reading was 1750, and at six this morning it 

 was only 1440. C. Michie Smith 



Christian College, Madras, September 26 



Unusual Cloud-Glow after Sunset 



Yesterday evening a most extraordinary sunset effect was 

 seen here, which made a deep impression on all who observed 

 it. The sky was nearly clear when the sun set at 4. 18, and the 

 air transparent. A few cirrocumulus fleeces became lighted up 

 with a pink and then n\\\i a deep red colour immediately after 

 sunset. A very peculiar greeni-h and white opalescent haze 

 now appeared about the pi>int of the sun's depanure, and shone 

 as if with a light of its own, near the horizon. The upper part 

 of this pearly mist soon assumed a pink colour, while the lower 

 part was white, green, and greenish-yellow. About 4.35 the 

 sky from near the horizon towards the zenith had begun to 

 turn to a brilliant but delicate pink, and some pink cirrus-like 

 streaks stretched apparently horizontally towards the south-ea^t. 

 The coloured portion of the sky spread out like a sheaf from the 

 horizon, and apparently consisted of a very high, thin filmy 

 cirrus disposed in transverse bands or ripples, close together, and 

 very delicate in form, outline, and tint. Below the pink, and 

 between it and the point where the sun had set, remained the 

 very curious, opalescent, shining, green and white vapour, 

 hanging, as it were, vertically, and changing very little during 

 many minutes. The borders of the pink sheaf were definite, 

 and finely contrasted with the deep blue sky. As darkness came 

 on, the pink glow seemed 10 increase in brightness, and at five 

 o'clock cast a fine weird light over the hills. The moon was 

 now bright in the south-east, and began to cast dark shadows. 

 About five the colour slowly receded from the part nearest the 

 zenith towards the horizon, and as it retired left a clearly visible 

 filmy ripple of cirrus of a faint gray tint. At 5.25 the greater 

 part of the coluur was gone, and the cloud remained bright 

 only near the horizon. At 5.32, however, it began to 

 grow again, and in a short time (5.40) the whole extent 

 of the film was again glowing bright pink, produting a most 

 striking effect in contrast with the silvery moon, dark sky, 

 and bright stars in the north and east. The pink light then 

 slowly withdrew towards the horizon, remaining bright and deep 

 coloured low down till 5.50. At 5.58 the last pink disappeared. 

 The whole phenomenon from first to last was in the highest 

 degree peculiar and striking. It was remarkable, first, for the 

 interval w hich elapsed between the time of sun-et and the time 

 at which the cloud became bright, next for the light, filmy cha- 

 racter of the cluud, thirdly for the bright green glow near the 

 place of sunset, fourthly for the small transverse ripple form of 

 the cloud, fifthly for the permanence of shape and immobility 

 of the cloud, sixthly for the very long endurai.ce of the 

 coloured reflected sunlight after sunset, one hour and forty 

 minutes, and seventhly for the second illumination, which began 

 more than an hour after sunset. It was certainly due to cirrus 

 or a higher kind of cloud, because (i) parts of the illuminated 



sky stretched in long streaks southwards, and the glow remained 

 loi g in these streaks, resembling very high cirrus ; (2) when the 

 light left the sky the first time, the part which had been illu- 

 minated remained visible as silvery gray cloud ripples, before the 

 second after-glow rekindled it, and (3) because the colour became 

 very gradually darker as time went en, and because the reces- 

 sions of light both times were tow ards the place of sunset. A 

 similar very high cirrus had also been specially marked long after 

 sunset on November 8, and about the time of sunrise on 

 November 9. The night following this rare display was exceed- 

 ingly clear and fine. This evening (November 10) the light, 

 high cirrus, all but invisible in full daylight, with its dehcate 

 ripples, assumed the pink tint about fifteen minutes after sunset, 

 showing the upper air to be in the same abnormal condition as 

 yesterday, and the phenomenon was feebly repeated. It would 

 be interesting to ascertain the approximate height of cirrus on 

 which sunshine remains one hour and forty minutes after sunset 

 at this time of year. F. A. R. Russell 



Dunrozel, Ilaslemere, Surrey, November 10 



Shadow-Beams in the East at Sunset 



The phenomenon of beams of shadow meeting in the east at 

 sunset, treated of in the pages of Nature some months since 

 (at which time you did me the honour of inserting a letter of 

 mine), was beautifully witnessed here to-day and yesterday. 

 Both days were unusually clear ; there was, nevertheless, a 

 "body" in the air, without which the propagation of the beams 

 could not take place. Yesterday the sky was striped with cir- 

 rus cloud like the swaths of a hayfield ; only in the east there 

 was a bay or reach of clear blue sky, and in this the shadow - 

 beams appeared, slender, colourless, and radiating every way 

 like a fan wide open. This lasted from 3.30 to about 4.30. 

 To-day the sky was cloudless, except for a low bank in the » est ; 

 in the east was a " cast" of blue mist, from which sprang alter- 

 nate broad bands of rose colour and blue, slightly fringed. I 

 was not able to look for them till about 4.30, when the sun was 

 down, and they soon faded. I have not before seen this appear- 

 ance so far north, but on the south coast, where I first saw it, I 

 think it might often be witnessed. It is merely an effect of per- 

 spective, but a strange and beautiful one. 



Stonyhurst College, November 12 Gerard Hopkins 



The Java Eruption 



The accompanying paragraph may be of interest in connec- 

 tion with the Java catastrophe. I may mention that from 

 the 28tli of last month, when I first noticed it, there has 

 been an exceptional red glow after sundown, and a strange green 

 tint in the sky, w hile till the last few days the moon has had a 

 distinctly green tint ; this green tint has been noticed in many 

 parts of India. F. C. CONSTABLE 



Karachi, October 16 



A Floating Lava Bed. — Sir, — It may be interesting to 

 some of your scientific readers to know that the steamship Siam, 

 on her voyage from King George's Sound to Colombo, on 

 August I, when in lat. 6° S., 89° E., passed, for upwards of 

 four hours, through large quantities of lava, which extended as 

 far as could be seen (the ship w as going eleven knots at the 

 time). The lava was floating in a succession of lanes from five 

 to ten yards wide, and trending in a direction north-west to 

 south-east. The nearest land was the coast of Sumatra (distant 

 700 miles), but as there was a current of fifteen to thirty miles a 

 day, setting to the eastward, the lava could not have come from 

 there, and I can only imagine it must have been an upheaval 

 from somewhere near the spot. I may mention the soundings 

 on the chart show over 2,000 fathoms. There was a submarine 

 volcano near the spot in 1879. — Edward Ashdovvn, Com- 

 mander, P. and O. steamship Siam. {Sind Gazette Bulletin, 

 October 12.) 



Towering of Birds 

 When shootir.g in Fifeshire last October I fired at a partridge 

 at a distance of about forty yards ; the bird flew on for a short 

 distance, and then began to ri^e, not in the manner in which a 

 towering bird generally ascend?, but soaring as if it did so volun- 

 tarily. After rising to the height of 100 c.r 150 yards very much 

 after the fashion in which some hauks Soar, its flight was sud- 

 denly deflected downwards obhquely for a considerable distance. 



