Curious Lunar Refraction. b37 
ephant enable it to hear very minute sounds, which it is known 
to do. A piano-forte having been sent on purpose to Exeter 
Change, the higher notes hardly attracted the elephant’s no- 
tice, but the low ones aroused his attention. The effect of 
the higher notes of the piano-forte upon the great lion in 
Exeter Change was only to excite his attention, which was 
very great. He remained silent and motionless. But no 
sooner were the flat notes sounded than he sprang up, at- 
tempted to break loose, lashed his tail, and seemed so furi- 
ous and enraged as to frighten the female spectators. This 
was attended with the deepest yells, which ceased with the 
music. Sir E. Home has found this inequality of the fibres 
in neat cattle, the horse, deer, the hare, and the cat. Phil. 
Trans. 1823. 
25. Aurora Borealis.—Dr. L. Thienemana, who spent the 
winter of 1820 and 1821, in Ice and, made numerous obser- 
vations on the polar lights. He states the following as some 
of the general results of his observations : 
Ist. The polar lights are situated in the lightest and high- 
est clouds of our atmosphere. 2d. hey are not confined 
to the winter season or to the night, but are present, in fa- 
vourable circumstances at all times, but are distinctly visble 
only during the absence of the solar rays. 3d. The polar 
lights have no determinate connexion with the earth. 4th. 
He never heard any noise proceed from them. Sth. Their 
common form, in Iceland, is the arched, and in a direction 
from N. E. to W.S. W. 6th. Their motions are various, 
but always within the limits of the clouds containing them. 
—FEdinb. Phil. Jour. Vol. X. 
26. Curtou: Lunar Refraction.—Dr. Forster, ina paper read 
before the Meteorological Society of London, and published 
in the Lond. Phil. Mag. Vol. LXIII. mentions a curious lu- 
nar refraction, which he observed some years ago. About 
seven o’clock in ihe evening, the moon being five days old, 
he noticed a double refraction of her image of the following 
form and relative position ) ), that is, two distinct crescents 
instead of one, andso pr: cisely similar that it could vot be dis- 
tinguished which was the moon and which the paraselene. 
Dr. F. thinks this phenomenon analogous to the double re- 
fraction in certain laminated spars ; and that it may indicate 
that there existed atmospherical amine at that time—which 
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