
for temperature). 

Nov. 3, 1870] 
NATURE 
~ 
/ 

more refrangible than Ha, in addition to those usually seen. _ It 
was situated about “4 of the distance from C to D. If any other 
observer noted the position of the arch observed at §.15 P.M., 
I shall be glad to be informed, in order to calculate the height. 
Clementhorpe, N. Shields, Oct. 27. Henry R. Procror 

ANOTHER display of aurora borealis occurred this evening. 
Tt was not to be compared in splendour with that of the night 
preceding, but it had some interesting and instructive features. 
The sky was not clear at any time, and the masses of red light, 
which occupied generally similar situations to those of the 
preceding night, were interrupted in many places by dense 
clouds. I observed it at about half-past six p.M., and at that time 
the most remarkable feature was that streamers (generally not of 
a red colour) radiated from every part of the north horizon | 
accurately to a point defined very nearly by one of the stars 
o Cygni or v Cygni, which were then near the meridian. I did 
not see both stars, and Iam therefore in doubt, as they are of 
equal magnitules, which was the star nearest to the point of 
convergence of the streamers. | 
The radiations were so well marked and so accurately directed 
to one point, that I mentally compared them to the ribs of an 
expanded umbrella. his did not last long ; in a few minutes 
fine strexmers went from the N. W. horizon towards the south- 
east, to the east of this point, which was then covered with red 
light without streamers. ‘The largest masses of red light were, 
as in the preceding evening, south of the zenith, and in the 
south-east and south-west quarters of the heavens. 
Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, Oct. 25 Rogert MAIN 
A MAGNIFICENT auroral display was visible here on the 
evening of the 24th, between 8! o™ and 8) 30", 
The maximum of intensity must have occurred between 8" om 
and 8® 20", but, being otherwise engaged, I did not observe 
anything myself until $ 25, when the E. and W. regions of 
the sky, more especially the latter, were illuminated with a 
crimson or reddish glow, somewhat resembling the reflection 
of distant conflagrations, but on neither side did this glow ap- 
pear to reach the zenith by many degrees. Shortly after the 
time mentioned (8" 25™) both disappeared, after which a phos- 
phorescent whitish light was observed nearer to and on the S.E. 
of the zenith. The barometer had, during the previous day or 
two, shown considerable variation in atmospheric pressure. 
Another display was observed on the following evening (25th), 
which commenced about 6" o™ and continued visible more or less 
until 7 om, 
The first indication that I noticed was a fiery glow similar to 
that seen on the previous evening, but considerably higher, and 
almost immediately after a magnificent broad stream of light, 
consisting of reddish and light tints, was observed in the N.E. 
extending upwards for 50° or 60°. 

About 6" 20™ the whole of the northern region of the sky ex- | 
tending to E. and W., and about 15° S. of the zenith, was more 
or less illuminated, and I should say the maximum of intensity 
occurred at this time. The principal luminous streams and corus- 
cations appeared between N.I. and E.N.E. appearing first in 
the latter direction and increasing towards the former. 
On one occasion I noticed faint luminous streamers rising 
from different northerly directions and converging in the zenith ; 
these, together with the coloured bands of light before men- 
tioned, formed a magnificent and imposing spectacle. 
The northern sky afterwards presented an appearance of 
twilight until about ro’ 45™, 
‘During the display the barometer stood at 29°53 (corrected 
Temperature of air 49°. The minimum tem- 
perature registered during the night was 42°. 
Meteorological Observatory, Twickenham JOHN J. HALL 
COLLINS, in his ‘‘ Superstitions of the Highlands ” has these 
lines :— 
As Boreas threw his young Aurora forth 
In the first year of the first George's reign, 
And battles raged in welkin of the North, 
They mourned in air, tell, fell rebellion slain ! 
The Editor (Routledge’s edition) in a note states ‘‘ By ‘ young 
Aurora’ Collins undoubtedly means the first appearance of the 
Northern Lights, which happened about the year 1715 ; at least it 
is highly probable from the peculiar circumstance that no ancient 


writer had taken any notice of them, nor even any modern pre- 
vious to the above date.” Can any of your readers state whether 
this is correct. C, PoCcKLINGTON 
Poole, Oct. 27 
AN aurora borealis was visible at this place on the evening of 
the 25th inst., between the hours of 7 and 8.30 p.M. A beauti- 
ful crimson glow was first observed towards the north-east, 
veiling, but not hiding, the larger stars, and the Pleiades had the 
appearance of a wedge of pale yellow mist behind the veil. On - 
the horizon, looking due north, was a semicircular luminous space 
of clear pale light, of the colour of eastern sky just befure dawn, 
and from this there darted at intervals over the crimson glow lony 
slender rays of yellowish light, giving an exceedingly beautiful 
appearance tothe phenomenon. Clouds, which had been hanging 
about during the day, gathered over the scene towards 9 o’clock, and 
when they alterwards dispersed before midnight, the glow, though 
sull perceptible, was fading away. A falling star was observed at 
about eight, but considerably to the south of the aurora. There 
had been an aurora observed on the preceding evening, but of a 
less striking character. ‘The weather has been for the last ten 
days extremely unsettled, sirocco (S.E.) winds prevailing, and 
an unusual rainfall the result, accompanied sometimes by hail, 
and by thunder and lightning. But clear bright days occur in 
the intervals of these storms, when the sky is of an intense blue, 
against which beautiful forms of cloud mass themselves by de- 
grees as the day goes on, and become at length the subjects ol 
those gorgeous atmospheric effects which make the autumnal 
sunsets of the bay of Fiume rivals of those of Kome. 
Fiume, Oct. 28 A. M. Smirit 

[In addition to the letters printed above, we have received 
from many other correspondents interesting and valuable 
descriptions of the magnificent display of the aurora, which the 
demands of other subjects on our space alone prevent us from 
publishing. —Eb. } 
The Aurora of Sept. 24 
Ir may interest your readers to know that the very brilliant: 
aurora of the 24th and 25th September last was also visible in 
Canada, Mr. W. B. Dawson, writing from Montreal, notices. 
the occurrence of a very bright aurora on both nights, flashing 
much, and often bright crimson. It was also seen at Quebec, 
and attracted much attention. He observes that its appearance. 
was simultaneous with the division of a very large spot on the 
sun. Its crimson colour agrees with the red hue of your other 
correspondents ; and is somewhat remarkable, as I have often 
noticed, in Canada, that the red usually alternates with green in, 
vivid displays. GrorcE M, Dawson 
Royal School of Mines 
Hereditary Deformities 
THE alleged instances cf hereditary deformity produced by 
your correspondent in NAYURE for Oct. 20 do not seem at all 
satisfactory. They may all be referred either to an hereditary 
disease of the part affected, as in the suppuration »f the cow’s. 
horn; or to coincidence, accompanied by a slight stretch of 
| imagination on the part of the first narrator, as in the cases of 
the scar on the forehead and the crooked finger. 
Prof. Huxley, in his lectures on Natural History at the Royal 
School of Mines in 1864, after speaking of the short-legged 
| breed of Ancon sheep, and the six-fingered Maltese, Gratio 
Kelleia, said that although natural; malformations: were thus 
transmitted, artificial malformations never were; and instanced 
the fact of the mutilation produced by circumcision never being 
transmitted to the offspring. This, of course, is a negative 
| argumeht, but it has great weight when we consider how many 
thousands have undergone that mutilation without an instance of 
its having been inherited by their children. 
Faversham, Kent, Oct. 25 WILLIAM FILin 
The Cefn Reptile and the “Times” 
THE remarkable paragraph in the Zimes of the week betore 
last relating to the discovery of ‘‘a huge beast of the lizard 
tribe,” in a cave at Cefn near St. Asaph, implies a belief on the 
part of the editorial staff that such an addition to the British 
fauna was not impossible, and its wide circulation proves the 
astonishing credulity of the public :— 
“In the Vale of Clwyd, at a distance of two miles from the 
