Miscellanies. 393 



33. JVotice of an irised Aurora Boreaiis, by Dr. Lewis Feucht- 

 luanger. —A^ter having had on Sunday, the 13th of September, 1839, 

 the most majestic prospect of an eclipse of three-fourths of the moon 

 in 42<^ 40' N. lat. and 57° 56' W. Ion. from the South-East, which 

 lasted one hour and fifty minutes, I was surprised to see at nine 

 o'clock in the evening of Friday, the 18th of September, in 40° 

 35' N. lat. and 64° 18' W. long, in the horizon in the North-East, 

 the most splendid aurora borealis which I ever beheld : large bun- 

 dles of rays appeared in parallel form, beginning from the north, and 

 went over to the North-East, from the horizon to the zenith, I ob- 

 served from eight to twelve parallel bundles, which by continual 

 changes of the colors, (but only from the different variations of the red 

 to those of the blue) remained in a constant motion to each other, so 

 that if one bundle of rays seemed to go beyond the zenitli,* the 

 other bundle appeared likewise to go lower down. The colors of the 

 light, as well as the complete constant motion of the parallels, lasted, 

 according to my observation on the watch, one hour ; after this time 

 I saw the number of the bundles becoming more concentrated ; so 

 that in the first five minutes I observed but four bundles, and they to- 

 tally disappeared in the last ten minutes. 



On Saturday evening, at nine o'clock, of the 19th of September, I 

 saw in the same direction of the horizon, an Aurora, consisting of a 

 very few bundles of radii, with a very weak lustre of light, and last- 

 ing but half an hour. 



Extract of a letter from Dr. Buckland to Prof. Hitchcock of Amherst, dated Feb- 

 ruary 1, 1830. 



34. Reliquiae Diluviance. — I wish it were in my power to an- 

 nounce a speedy prospect of my second volume, but I dare not hope 

 to have leisure to get it ready during the present year ; although I 

 have materials sufficient for two volumes, if I could find time to put 

 them together. 



35. Antediluvian human remains. — With respect to the recent dis- 

 covery of human bones in the caves of the South of France, I be- 

 lieve there is much that deserves serious attention. The human bones 

 in the cave of Bize, are admitted to be of modern origin ; but the 



* The word zenith may perliaps not be in the right place, since I did not see 

 the whole spectacle over my head, but I cannot be so minute in describing the 

 height of the radii in degrees. 



VoL= XVIlL=^No. 2. 50 



