Aurora Borealis of November 14, 1837. 283 



about 32° 45", N, Mr. Darby writes : " Immediately after dark, or 

 at about six o'clock, the sky a little to the north of the star Ca- 

 pella, began to appear luminous, and a luminous arch was soon 

 formed, of about 6° or 8° in breadth, and extending over to the 

 north-western horizon, having the pole-star in its highest point. 

 Soon after the arch was formed, that part of it in the N. E. hori- 

 zon became much brighter, and somewhat broader than the rest ; 

 and this luminous portion gradually rose, and passed on in the arch ; 

 its densest part culminating a little below the north star. It con- 

 tinued its motion to the western horizon. 



" The passage of the luminous part of the arch occupied an 

 hour and a half. It became somewhat fainter, after it had passed 

 the meridian. The arch gradually passed off, beginning first to 

 disappear in the east, so that not a vestige remained at nine o'clock, 

 three hours from its first appearance. * * * ^phe 

 color of the arch was that of light scarlet, and the most lumin- 

 ous part a little darker, and much more intense. It appeared to 

 be a semicircle, having for its base about 60° of the horizon. It 

 differed from the Aurora in its regular outline, and its regular mo- 

 tion from .east to west. It was observed with wonder by many 

 in this region, and was such as no one had ever witnessed before." 

 Time at Culloden, 45m. earlier than at New Haven, nearly. 



At the date of this letter, Mr. Darby was not aware of the con- 

 temporaneous occurrence of the Aurora at the north. The ap- 

 pearances he describes are certainly very unusual ; but must, of 

 course, be attributed to the phenomenon which was at the time 

 exciting so great admiration and astonishment, throughout all the 

 northern states. 



We learn from some of the English journals, that this Aurora 

 was seen in Great Britain. It is mentioned in a number of the 

 Cambridge Chronicle, published in November, and also in Lou- 

 don's Magazine of Natural History, No. XII, Dec. 1837, Its 

 splendors seem to have been in a great measure concealed by 

 clouds, and the Aurora of Nov. 12, two days previous, attracted 

 a much higher degree of attention. A notice of this latter phe- 

 nomenon, by J. H. Stanway, Esq., of Brookfield, near Manches- 

 ter, dated Nov. 15, and published in Loudon's Magazine, contains 

 this incidental mention of the Aurora under consideration : 



" My attention was also last night directed, by the oscillations 

 of the needle, to the existence of an Aurora Borealis ; but, by 



