Aurora Borealis of November 14, 1837. 267 



Art. II. — On the Aurora Borealis of November 14, 1837; 

 by Frederick A. P. Barnard, A. M., Prof, of Mathematics and 

 Natural Philosophy in the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. 



The splendid display of auroral glories which took place on 

 the 14th of November, 1837, was undoubtedly one of the most 

 extensive and most beautiful on record. It accordingly attracted 

 the attention of a great number of observers, of whom many, 

 in this country, have communicated to Mr. E. C Herrick, of 

 New Haven, and to Professor Olmsted, of Yale College, the par- 

 ticulars of their observations. It was the intention of Professor 

 Olmsted to offer, in the April number of the Journal, an abstract 

 of these communications, but the pressure of other engagements 

 has compelled him to commit to another, the task of preparing 

 such an abstract. 



Observations on the Aurora, to be valuable as the means of de- 

 tecting the laws which regulate this phenomenon, and of afford- 

 ing data, from which to determine or to conjecture its causes, 

 should, of course, be extended through a long period of time, and 

 embrace a vast number of particular facts. They should be con- 

 ducted by many observers, in different places, simultaneously and 

 Avith concert. They should, moreover, be regulated according to 

 a system, previously understood by all who take part in the ob- 

 servation. 



It follows, therefore, that from the collected accounts of a sin- 

 gle display of this brilliant meteor, especially if these are ex- 

 pressed in language generally too vague, in regard to directions 

 and times, to allow of an identification of its particular phases as 

 observed from different points of view, little can be inferred as to 

 the nature of the phenomenon itself, or the altitude of the lumi- 

 nous cloud above the surface of the earth. Such records may, 

 nevertheless, in the progress of science, be discovered to possess 

 a value, which we are unable at present properly to appreciate. 



The city of New Haven had been visited, during the day of 

 the 14th of November, with a moderate storm of snow, which 

 began to subside between the hours of five and six in the eve- 

 ning. The heavens continued, however, to be more or less 

 obscured by clouds during the entire evening ; on which account 

 the splendors of the aurora, as they manifested themselves to 



