178 



NA TURE 



{Dec. 20, I < 



showing through bars of nearer gray cloud. I thought of 

 running into Rusi<in's study and telling him to look, and 

 went as far as his door, but then deemed it better not, as 

 the efTect was of so lurid and awful a nature, I thought it 

 might put him off his work ! My next scene was one 

 morning ; finding the room very dark, I suddenly discovered 

 the maid had shut the shutters ; 1 got up to open them, 

 and to my astonishment saw Coniston Old Man all red, 

 but with no shadows ! I was all the more astonished 

 because it was still much too dark for any light on the 

 " Old Man " at all ! and I can assure you it really looked 

 alarming. I have of course often seen the mountain red 

 and orange, but never before sunrise. I concluded that 

 this glare was caused by some very bright reflection from 

 the rising sun on the sky above, and bright enough to 

 make the mountains all red. I watched this more or less 

 until nine o'clock, when at last the usual shadows ap- 

 peared, the mountain getting I suppose some real sun- 

 light. Then my last effects have been two extraordinary 

 after-glows a few evenings ago. It seemed to me that 

 about half an hour before sunset the sun began to shine 

 through some extraordinary vapour capable of being illu- 

 mmated very much more than the ordinary atmosphere, 

 so much so that we had faint cast shadows from it on our 

 lawn ; there was no sign of the sun or even where he was, 

 as this vapour was so equally illuminated. It lasted long; 

 and when candles had been in some time, there was still 

 a band of intense rose colour on the western horizon. 

 Arthur Severn 

 Brantwood, Coniston, Lancashire, December 9 



This atmospheric phenomenon still continues morning 

 and evening to excite admiration. Its eftects, however, 

 on the colour of the sky disappear at an earlier hour than 

 has hitherto been the case ; on the morning of Wednesday, 

 the 5th inst., the southern heavens were resplendent with 

 richest and most brilliant colours, to attempt the descrip- 

 tion of which would be somewhat puzzling. It seems as 

 if of late the grandest displays occur before sunrise. The 

 afternoon effects were remarkable less for richness of 

 coloration than for the lustre of the light which arose in 

 the west after sunset and for the predominance over the 

 whole sky of opalescent white colours. The reflection of 

 the light on church towers and buildings brought out the 

 architecture in strong and startling relief. There was, 

 however, at 4.15 p.m. a colour display, and on this occa- 

 sion the moon for a short time was again changed to a 

 hue of emerald green. On the 6th, before sunrise, the 

 phenomenon reappeared in a mantle of lurid red colour. 

 The display passed through the usual changes of colour 

 and disappeared when the sun rose. In the afternoon 

 the glow at 4 p.m. reappeared, followed by the usual 

 brilliant radiance ; the colours were, however, sea-greens, 

 opaline whites, and bright grays till 4.30 p.m., when a 

 blood-red colour overspread the western sky. The glow 

 faded sooner than usual. The morning of the 7th though 

 splendid was less grand in character than the displa\- of 

 the previous morning. At 4 p.m. a rosy hue suffused a' few 

 light clouds that rested on the sky. At 4.15 pearly whites ' 

 and niauves and grays prevailed. Just at this time an irre- j 

 gularly shaped vaporous mass of an exquisite tint of lake 

 foi med in the west 45° above the horizon, and gradually 

 spread to a point near the horizon. At 4.30 the usual orange- 

 coloured arc appeared in the west, and'for a few moments \ 

 the light emitted was almost dazzling. The display was 

 somewhat evanescent. On the 8th, before sunrise, the 

 sky was enriched with various hues of red, carmine, green, 

 and yellow. At 3 p.m. there was a detached cloud canopy 

 coloured with a deep rose, but changing to an orange 

 hue ; 5 p.m. dense cloud canopy with red radiance visible 

 through the clouds. On the 9th a dense cloud canopy 

 shut out observation. At 4 p.m. a bright yellow glare 

 coloured the horizon of the western sky. This was fol- 

 lowed by the orange-coloured radiance, but the display 



I was fugitive. The morning and afternoon of the loth 

 I were unfavourable for observation owing to a dense cloud 

 canopy, but a yellow-coloured light in the sky was per- 

 ceptible. On the I ith the sky before sunrise was brilliant 

 ' with colours pink, blood-red, yellow, and green. At 8 a.m. 

 for a few moments the sun appeared of a green colour. 

 This afternoon's effects were very beautiful. At 3 p.m. a 

 I yellow glow prevailed : this gave way to a remarkable 

 streak of a vivid green colour extending along the horizon 

 from north-west to south-west ; above this was a vaporous 

 mass reaching to within a few degrees of the zenith. 

 Beyond this mass and overspreading the zenith the colour 

 was mauve. In the eastern sky the colours were reds, 

 mauves, and blues. This evening the moon again shone 

 with a green light. The glowing arc of orange-coloured 

 radiance which evening after evening shone in the western 

 horizon seems to have ceased to be apparent here. The 

 effects of the splendid sky coloration in causing the flame 

 of gas lamps to appear white, or rather in fact to resemble 

 the electric light— noticed by Mr. Sydney Hodges at 

 Ealing — was at this place a striking feature of the displays. 

 A destructive hurricane from the north-west set in at 11 

 p.m. on the nth inst., and was of greater violence than 

 any that has occurred here from that point for these 

 forty years. The night was moonlight, with flying scud. 

 In the night, between one and two o'clock a.m., during 

 the height of the hurricane, the phenomenon of paraselene 

 or mock moon was visible. The false disk was well de- 

 fined, equalled the moon in size, but was less brilliant, and 

 was some 4^^ or 5° from the true moon ; prismatic hales 

 were visible during the night. The wind blew in terrific 

 gusts, striking houses and buildirgs almost with the force 

 of a battering ram. Before sunrise on the 12th a red 

 glare suffused the sky, and at half-past eight a.m. the sun 

 appeared of a dark green colour, and remained of this 

 colour for several minutes. The violence of the hurricane 

 subsided towards four a.m. During the lulls of the storm 

 there were on one or two occasions tremors that I could 

 not connect with the vibration of the house from the effect 

 of the wind, and which seemed to me to be earth tremors. 

 In the afternoon the glow appeared in the west in the 

 5hape of a mass of aluminous yellow body some 25° above 

 the horizon, which sank gradually below the horizon, and 

 left a clear sky. On the morning of the 13th the only 

 colour visible was a deep yellow, and that colour prevailed 

 in the vicinity of the sun throughout the day. Thermo- 

 meter again rose to 50", barometer falling. In the after- 

 noon of that day, cloud obscuration shut out observation. 

 December 14. — .\t sunrise, owing to the denseness of 

 the prevailing cloud canopy, observation was not possible" 

 At 10 a.m. the canopy broke up and dispersed, and, ex- 

 cept along the eastern horizon, the sky became blue and 

 clear. At 1 1 a.m. a broad, colourless stream of remark- 

 able moving vapour or cloud haze, and rayed, nebulous 

 cirri of a very filmy structure, issued from a point occu- 

 pied by a few clouds of the stratus type on the western 

 horizon, and travelled across the zenith eastwards. The 

 motion of the vapour and cirri was rather fast as it swept 

 across the sky. The quick-changing forms were most 

 astonishing, some being of a leaf structure, some pointed 

 rays, some curled, others horizontal bars. The forms of both 

 haze and cirri were most fantastic. The stream continued 

 to flow till after 2 p.m. I have never before observed 

 anything like it. At 3.15 p.m. there was a wide- 

 spreading green sky space about 20' in altitude on 

 the western horizon. Above it gradually in the clear 

 sky, a rich russet glow, with no definite outline, became 

 developed, and continued to prevail. A 4 p.m. a pink 

 glow coloured some clouds resting on the western sky 

 and flushed the entire horizon. Towards 5 p.m. the russet 

 colour gave way to a smoky yellow tint, and soon after- 

 wards the light disappeared. Cloud- tortus during the 

 day took the most weird and fantastic forms. Imagining 

 that the phenomenon was on the wane, I was surprised 



