Particulars respecting an irisecl Aurora Borealis. 73 



The iricolored appearance continued only a few minutes. The 

 sky soon became quite pure, every thing resembling a cloud disap- 

 pearing, and the long, bright streamers now shot up from the north, 

 toward the zenith. Some of these continued near a half a minute, 

 and were occasionally tinged with red, or with yellow : — two colors, 

 I believe, not unfrequently seen : I saw them both a few days after, 

 in another part of Maine. 



After these streamers had disappeared, we saw the light, quite fee- 

 ble springing up from the North almost to the zenith, throughout the 

 northern hemisphere ; and if the comparison may be permitted resem- 

 bling extremely intermittent puffs of light colored or illuminated 

 smoke sent forth from some huge bellows ; so very rare and attenua- 

 ted as not to have been observed without close attention. It was sof- 

 ter and very much less bright than the light of the galaxy. 



Next followed what I shall call the common lights in the north ; and 

 in about fifteen or twenty minutes from our first observation, the whole 

 spectacle ended, leaving a bright pure sky. You will not noiv doubt 

 that this was to me an exceedingly interesting exhibition, although I 

 had seen the lights an hundred times before. 



The moon, nearly full, having risen about 8 o'clock, shone during 

 the whole time : But neither the position of the columns, nor any 

 rain or remarkable humidity of the air ; nor the appearance of the 

 light and colors, allow me to attribute the phenomena to her bow : and 

 besides, there were three or four of these columns equally bright. 



The air, towards evening, had become pretty rapidly cool; and 

 during the day the atmosphere had been a little smoky, from the burn- 

 ing wood. — I mention these facts, also, without ascribing to them any 

 effect as regards the colors. 



As you may recollect, I am very short-sighted.* Now you know 

 short-sighted people see with different eyes from others. — As regards the 

 colors of clouds of different heights particularly, they do not always 

 agree with their " eagle eyed" friends, in the intenseness of color, 

 nor sometimes in the color itself; a cloud being occasionally colorless 

 to the eye of the one, whilst it is tinged to the eye of another : — Such 

 at least is the result of my own experiments, made several years ago ; 



* But my vision is distinct. I have read the newspaper by moonlight — have de- 

 tected without any previous intimation of the fact, the initials under the bust of Geo. 

 upon the sovereign, and read the Lord's Prayer, &c. in the medallion specimens of 

 Jacob Perkins. 



Vol. XVIII.— No. 2. 10 



