366 Miscellanies. 



Professor Bache stated that his own observations near Philadelphia, 

 of the altitude of the apparent converging point of the auroral beams, 

 at nine, P. M. made it but about 69°. He had witnessed a case of the 

 appearance of a dark spot of irregular shape, between two beams of 

 light, which was certainly not a cloud, as the stars were not at all ob- 

 scured by it, and which he supposed to be the phenomenon referred 

 to recently by Professor Lloyd. No mottled clouds, such as usually 

 attend the aurora, were visible during the period between nine and ten 

 o'clock, when he liad been able to observe. Professor Bache stated 

 that he did not place much stress upon his measurements, as he had 

 been prevented from sustained observation by indisposition. There 

 had been, in the newspapers, an account of an auroral display visible 

 at London, on the morning of the fourth of September, at about the 

 same absolute time as at Princeton, according to Professor Alexander's 

 observations. It was said to have been accompanied by a very unu- 

 sual number of shooting stars, compared in one statement to the splen- 

 did display of November 13th, 1833. 



Professor Henry had examined the light of this aurora by the pola- 

 riscopes of Savart and Arago, but had not been able to detect the 

 slightest trace of polarization.* 



The following gentlemen were duly elected members of the Soci- 

 ety:— 



Thomas U- Walter, of Philadelphia. 



John Penington, of Philadelphia. 



Eugene A. Vail, of Paris. 



Charles Rumker, of Hamburgh. 



Charles Gutzlaff, of Macao. 



John Washington, Captain R. B. N. 



Elias Loomis, of the Western Reserve College, Ohio. 



Stephen Alexander, of Princeton College, N. J. 



November 1, 1839 — The Committee, consisting of Dr. Bache, Dr. 

 Patterson and Mr. Booth, to whom the paper of Dr. Hare, read at 

 the last meeting of the society, was referred, entitled, " Description 

 of an Apparatus for deflagrating carburets, phosphurets, or cyanides, 

 in vacuo, or in an atmosphere of hydrogen, between electrodes of 

 charcoal ; with an account of the results obtained by these and other 

 means, especially the isolation of calcium, and formation of a new 

 fulminating compound. By R. Hare, M. D., Professor of Chemistry 

 in the University of Pennsylvania," reported in favor of publication 

 in the Society's Transactions. The publication was ordered accord- 

 ingly. 



* Other observations, made in this country and in England, on this magnificent 

 Aurora, have already appeared in this Journal, (Vol. xxxviii, pp. 146, 260, and 

 376.)— Eds. 



