6 
NATURE 
[Mov. 3, 1870 

a space of about ten minutes the aurora appeared to be fading, 
but at about 10" 4o™ a bright streamer, 5° or 6° broad at its 
base, rose upwards from the ‘‘pointers” to above the Polar 
star, while the whole northern half of the sky was again covered 
with fainter streamers. Waves of light flashed rapidly along 
the principal beam, from its base to near the zenith in about one 
second, and at the same time drifted upwards over the other 
parts of the aurora in extremely vivid and rapid succession. 
The progress of the disturbance continued the same, and was | 
watched for about ten minutes, during which time occasional 
bright streamers rose and faded, and all the beams of the aurora 
were equally lighted up by the flitting waves. The motion of 
the latter appeared to be in parallel lines rising upwards 
from the N.N.E. horizon, and where in that direction 
the bases, or brightest parts, of the streamers were ar- 
ranged in a continuous succession of altitudes from near the 
horizon to the zenith, the waves appeared to be propagated in | 
the most regular and unbroken manner. Tall streamers at a 
considerable distance east or west of the magnetic north were 
lighted up very rapidly from their bases to their summits, as if 
directly confronted throughout their whole lengths by the ad- 
vancing waves. At about 10" 45™, the cloud-like apex of 
the aurora was somewhat nearer to y than to 8 Andromedz, and | 
it was lighted up like the occasional tall streamers in the east 
and west, by almost momentary flashes of pale, phosphorescent 
light. The impressions of a luminous vapour, like that which 
floats over phosphorus, of the igzis fatuus, or of the disturbed 
surface of a phosphorescent sea, blown by the wind, were most 
vividly suggested by the flickering changes of brightness in por- 
tions of the auroral cloud overhead, At 10% 50™ the dis- 
turbance ceased, and the streamers gradually resumed their 
steadiness, some appearing soon afterwards in the south-west, 
from between @ Pegasi and a Aquarii to a Pegasi; and others, 
in the south-east, across Aries and Taurus. The auroral apex 
was faintly visible, at this time, near y Andromedz. At about 
11", a third disturbance among the auroral beams occurred for 
a few minutes overhead. A slightly curved arch 2° or 3° broad, 
extending towards the east and west about 20° on each of the 
apex, and lancelike streamers in the east and west, which, 
together with the arch, were in their ordinary state invisible, 
were repeatedly lighted up suddenly and very brightly, and were 
immediately again extinguished ; the light sometimes appearing 
in the beams and sometimes in thearch, as if it were bandied to 
and fro between them. ‘The streamers in the north were at this 
time very faint, and those in the south-east and south-west 
were almost entirely hidden by clouds, which a rising 
wind now drove across them from the south. From 11? 
8™ to a1 rom a rapid succession of horizontal waves 
and wavelets of light rose in parallel lines above the 
N.N.E. horizon, drifting, apparently, overhead towards the 
south. As they appeared to catch the beams, and the arch 
which still remained extended acress the apex towards the east 
and west, these were suddenly lighted up, and immediately again 
extinguished, as before ; the flickering and dancing effect of the 
light which they produced resembling that reflected on the clouds 
in the south from distant iron-smelting furnaces upon the opposite 
bank of the Clyde. A repetition of the flashing lights, which, I 
presume, must have beenthose described by ancient writers as capre@ 
saltantes, and by mariners familiar with displays of the aurora in 
high latitudes as ‘‘ merry-dancers,” occurred again among the 
beams overhead between rr4 12™ and 114 14™. Soon after this, 
thick clouds came over from the south, and the sky very shortly 
afterwards became overcast. 
The beams of this aurora were uniformly white, without any 
trace of colour. But the farthest east and western beams of a 
bright aurora seen here from 8" to 11 on the evening of Thurs- 
day last, the 2oth inst., were of a rich crimson red, and one tall 
streamer of that qurora, reaching nearly to the zenith, exactly in 
the north, was tinged with crimson at the top. A south-west 
wind, occompanied by rain, succeeded that aurora on the follow- 
ing day. Last night a south-west gale sprang up, and there was 
a considerable fall of rain here this afternoon. I heard no 
crackling sounds during the brightest flashing of this aurora ; 
but such sounds might very possibly be produced in Arctic regions 
by the cracking of ice, which great pressure, or a change of tem- 
perature in a gale of wind, would be not unlikely to occasion as 
a concomitant of the aurora, if, as was recently suggested by the 
late Admiral Fitzroy, auroral displays in these latitudes accom- 
pany, and are pretty certain indications of the existence of, very 
stormy weather at a distance. A. S. HERSCHEL 
Andersonian University, Glasgow, Oct, 26 
| D to beyond the F. 

A WONDERFULLY fine auroral display took place last night, 
very far exceeding in extent and brilliancy that of the 24th ult., 
as seen from this place. It began to show itself soon after sun- 
down, attained its maximum about 8 o’clock, and had not wholly 
disappeared at 11. At about 8 o’clock more than half the 
visible heavens was one sea of colour, the general ground green- 
ish, yellow, and pale rose, with extensive shoals of deep rose in 
the east and west, and from the north; streaming upwards to 
and beyond the zenith, tongues and brushes of rosy red so deep 
that the sky between looked black. The spectroscope, a direct- 
vision one, showed four lines in the rosy portion and one in the 
greenish ; one strong red line near the C, one strong pale 
yellow line near the D, one paler near the F, and one still 
paler beyond, with a faint continuous spectrum from about the 
The C line was very conspicuous and the 
brightest of the whole, intermediate in position and colour to the 
red of the lithium and the calcium, with both of which I am 
familiar ; plainly there were two spectra superposed, for while 
the red portions of the aurora showed the four lines with a 
faint continuous spectrum, the greenish showed only one, near 
the D on a faint ground. Of course, no numerical accuracy 
was attainable with so simple an instrument, only the judgment 
of the eye; but the conviction was very strong that the rosy hue 
was owing to hydrogen, possibly resulting from decomposition 
by electrical discharges of the excessively attenuated watery 
yapour existing in the higher regions of the earth’s atmosphere, 
which Tyndall has shown to be capable of producing the blue 
colour of the sky, and by the consequent loss of which the 
blackness of space was discernible. Toa 
St. Mary Church, Torquay, Oct. 25 

SHORTLY after sunset this evening an ill-defined auroral arch 
was seen in the north. At about 7°45 patches of rose-coloured 
light were visible about the constellations Auriga, Ursa Minor, 
Ursa Major, &c., and at about 8 o’clock brilliant crimson rays 
shot up to the zenith, and the sky seemed one vast mass of fire. 
The auroral light was visible as far south as Cetus and Aquarius. 
The crimson tint passed from time to time into a greyish light. 
When the most brilliant portions were examined with the 
spectroscope, two bright lines were visible, one a greenish-grey 
line situated about the middle of the spectrum, and the other a 
red line looking very much like the C hydrogen line. 
London, Oct. 24 W. B. GIBBs 

Durinc the recent brilliant auroral displays (Oct. 24th and 
25th), I observed four bright lines in the spectrum of the 
crimson beams of the corona. ‘ 
1. A broad and well defined red band near C. 
2. A bright white band near D (? the same as Angstrém’s 
line with wave-length = 5567). I have frequently seen this line 
even during very faint displays; on the 25th it was visible in 
every part of the sky. 
3. A faint and rather nebulous line, roughly estimated to be 
near F. 
4. A very faint line about half way between 2 and 3, 
The red band was absent from the spectrum of the white rays 
of the aurora, but the other lines were seen. 
Bedford, Oct. 29 Tuos. G. ELGER 
On the night of the 25th a most gorgeous aurora borealis 
was visible at North Shields. I first observed it about 6 P.M., 
when it formed a splendid boreal crown, of which the centre 
was about 25° south-east of the zenith. Rays of brilliant crim- 
son converged to it from all directions, especially from N.E., S., 
and S.W. To the north the light was more of the ordinary 
colour. They appeared to rise from an irregular circle, extend- 
ing round the whole horizon, and slightly arched in the N.W. 
Below this was the usual dusky cloud. When the rays, or rather 
sheets, of crimson were at their brightest, they were streaked with 
yellowish light. At times the centre of convergence was dark, 
at others it was occupied by luminous clouds of twisted forms, 
reminding me of those of some of the nebulz. The rays seemed 
to have a slow motion towards the south. 
About eight o’clock the crown gradually faded, and the light 
of the centre flickered with a tremulous motion. At 8.15 an 
arch shot across the sky from N.E. to S.W., passing just north 
of the pole star. It slowly drifted south, and at 8.30 was in the 
zenith. At 10 the boreal crown had reappeared, but was of the 
ordinary yellowish coiour, 
The spectrum of the red rays contained a brilliant red line, 
