Dec. 20, 1883] 



NA TURE 



i?9 



to witness a display so brilliant and imposing. On this 

 day the thermometer rose to 54^. At 8 p.m. there was a 

 rather broad band of green light round the disk of the 

 moon. It seemed to me that neither the sun nor the 

 moon during the days and nights of the 12th, 13th, 14th, 

 and 15th gave the usual light. 



December 15. — The sunrise this morning was of a most 

 impressive character. From just before sunrise till 8 a.m. 

 the eastern sky was flushed with blood-red colour. At 8 

 a.m. the sun again shone with a most beautiful green 

 light for a few minutes. The room in which the observa- 

 tions were made has two windows, one facing east, the 

 other south, and the marvellous spectacle was witnessed 

 of a flood of crimson glare fillmg the east window, while 

 through the south window poured a volume of dazzling 

 green light. This afternoon there was a thick cloud 

 canopy, and rain fell, but a yellow glare penetrated the 

 clouds on the south and west. At 4 p.m. through a cloud 

 rent could be seen the bright pink, russet green, and 

 yellow colours of the glow. The thermometer registered 



44'- 



December 16. — The glare was visible this morning, but 

 no colour other than smoky yellow was visible. After- 

 noon the glare verj' powerful, but at 3.45 pale yellow was 

 the only colour. This, however, prevailed in the west, 

 but extended round the whole horizon. The spoked ray 

 feature, however, was greatly developed. 



The steel coloured radiance which glowed in the western 

 sky at 3.30 p.m. at the time of closing my letter was fol- 

 lowed from 4 till shortly after 5 p.m. by the fiery glare 

 which has been a marked feature of the red sky dis- 

 plays during their prevalence. The sky effects were 

 much the same as on the previous afternoon, except 

 that the nebulous matter was traversed by fan-shaped 

 pointed rays, and its structure presented a billowy 

 appearance. 



December 17. — Glare at sunrise as on other mornings 

 of late, the coloration less grand and brilliant. During 

 the morning a stream of filmy cirri issuing from the 

 point in the heavens occupied by the sun and travelling 

 across the zenith till after midday. 3.30 p.m. — Steel 

 coloured glare, followed at 4 p.m. by the development of 

 the usual fiery glow in the western sky, traces of which 

 remained till 6 p.m. 



In the " Notes" in Nature for the 6th inst. (p. 135) is 

 a record of a fall, on the night of Nov. 17, at Storelvdal, 

 Norway, of layers of gray and black dust. This was the 

 day of the date of a fall of discoloured rain near 

 Worcester. Recent accounts announce the visibility of 

 the phenomenon in America, where its cause is ascribed 

 to meteoric dust. Reports of falls of ashes on land and 

 shipboard tend rather to strengthen the volcanic dust 

 theory. According to the ".-Xnnals of Philosophy," vol. ii., 

 the sun appeared of a blue colour in April of the year 

 (821 in England. It seems from other sources that there 

 were in February of that year a violent volcanic eruption 

 in the island of Bourbon, and in June of the previous 

 year a destructive outbreak in Gunung Api. 



Worcester, December 17 J. Ll. Bozward 



The following observations of the remarkable " ylow " 

 that has lately been attracting such universal attention at 

 sunrise and sunset may be of use for comparison with 

 similar phenomena observed in other parts of the world. 

 They relate to the phenomenon as observed at sunrise on 

 those occasions when the atmospheric conditions and 

 other circumstances have been favourable for obtaining 

 good observations, though I may state that, even when 

 cloudy, and no clear blue sky visible, the red glow has 

 frequently made itself apparent through the clouds. 



December 4. — 6.40 a.m. The whole eastern sky 

 between the east-north-east and south-west, for an alti- 

 tude of 15', was of a pale pink; at 7.15 it had in- 

 creased in altitude to 45", and near the horizon was 



of a deep crimson. At 7.30 it began to fade away, 

 changing to a yellowish pink, and at 7.45 it had 

 disappeared, excepting a slight crimson haze having an 

 altitude of about 10°, and confined to that portion of the 

 horizon at which the sun was about to make his 

 appearance. 



December 12. — 6.30 a.m. A narrow belt of brilliant 

 crimson clouds about 5° wide skirted the horizon between 

 the north-east and south-south-east ; at 7 it had con- 

 siderably decreased in brilliancy, and reached an altitude 

 of 15", and at 7.30 it had become of one uniform pink 

 colour, and now reached the great altitude of 60°. It now 

 began gradually to fade away, changing to a yellowish 

 pink, and rapidly decreasing in altitude until by 7.45 

 it had entirely disappeared, leaving a clear blue sky, 

 which at 7.50 became tinged with the ordinary sunrise 

 tints. 



December 13. — 6.50 a.m. A bright yellow glow 

 having an altitude of 15^, appeared on the horizon, 

 extending from the east-north-east to the south-east ; at 

 7.20 it had increased in altitude to 60'^, the upper 

 portion being of a pink colour, giving to the blue sky 

 immediately adjoining a sickly green tint. At 7.50 

 the pink glow near the zenith had disappeared, and the 

 yellow glow near the horizon had changed to pink ; it had 

 now decreased in altitude to 10°, and extended no further 

 than between the east and south-east points of the horizon. 

 As the sun rose above the horizon it again changed to 

 yellow. 



December 17. — 7.15 a.m. The clouds which up to this 

 time had overcast the sky cleared away, although a very 

 brilliant display of the " glow " was to be seen. The entire 

 eastern sky between the east-north-east and south-south- 

 east for an altitude of 75^ was of a beautiful pink, excepting 

 immediately on the horizon, where it was yellow. At 

 7.45 the glow disappeared, leaving a clear blue sky 

 until 7.55, when the usual sunrise tints made their 

 appearance. 



From the foregoing remarks it will be seen that the 

 "glow" in this locality has generally made its appearance 

 ih. 20m. before sunrise, and excepting in one instance 

 (December 4) it has disappeared ten minutes before the 

 sun has made his appearance above the horizon. 



Dalston, E , December 18 B. J. Hopkins 



I HAVE observed the " after-glow" here (Madrid) since 

 November 30, when it fir^t came under my notice. The 

 effect was particularly fine on the 2nd inst., the atmo- 

 sphere being perfectly clear, and the moon (new, two and 

 a half hours behind the sun) quite brilliant, as also the 

 stars. At 4.24 (Madrid time) the sun went down, and 

 we had a fine, but not unusual, golden sunset effect which 

 lasted about fifteen minutes. At 5 the sky was gradually 

 lit up again, say 100 miles north and south of sun 

 point on the horizon, and some 45° of arc above, the 

 colour varying from pink-red to crimson, less intense on 

 high, but with a defined semicircular boundary againsf 

 blue sky, which at this period assumed a greenish tir', 

 as did also the moon without losing her brillianc /. 

 But I did not observe any " streaks of Polar auroral 

 light," mentioned in Mr. Bozward's letter; the crim- 

 son fan (shall I say ?) was uniform, and maintained 

 its intensity till six o'clock, though it gradually receded ; 

 the moon at the same time recovering her silvery appear- 

 ance ; and at 6.15, that is one hour and forty minutes 

 after sunset, all was over. At 6 p.m. the barometer 

 (4-inch height aneroid by Ladd) marked 705-50 mm. 

 (say 27'8o inches ; Madrid is 655 metres above the sea), 

 and the thermometer (Casella, K.O., No. 9538), shel- 

 tered, 4 metres above ground, stood at 10° Cent. 



On the 3rd inst. the effect was somewhat different, 

 owing to slight haziness, coupled with delicate ripples of 

 cirrus above, a few streaks of heavy cloud down on 

 horizon, and slight breeze from south-west ; but the 



