1 90 Miscellanies. 



principally by the sentinels, and by the officers, when going their 

 rounds ; also by the ecclesiastics, and by the subordinates, and by 

 many other persons. Monsieur Milordou, the principal priest of 

 the cathedral, stated in the account which he gave of this occur- 

 rence, that the interior of the cathedral was sometimes suddenly 

 illuminated by the light of this brilliant phenomenon. Monsieur 

 Itschitow, lieutenant-colonel of the 3d battalion of the line of Oren- 

 burg, also confirmed these statements in his report, which as an 

 additional ground of confidence, contained the accounts of the sen- 

 tinels in the several positions in which they had been posted. Dur- 

 ing the same night, and almost at the same hour, a not less remarka- 

 ble appearance was witnessed at Hitzkaja-Saschtschita, about sev- 

 enty-five miles to the south of Orenburg. Two columns of a white 

 color rose from the horizon equidistant from the moon, which at the 

 time had not risen far ; about the middle of their height they ap- 

 peared brilliant and much curved. Several horizontal bands sprung 

 from this point, the most brilliant of which extended towards the 

 moon, in which they appeared to unite, so that in this way they ap- 

 peared to form a great H. In the town of Ufa, the seat of the gov- 

 ernment of the same name, situated 380 miles to the north of Oren- 

 burg, a phenomenon similar to that which was observed at Hitzkaja- 

 Saschtschita, was perceived, but, according to the accounts which 

 have been given, it was not quite so brilliant." — Edin. new Philo. 

 Jour. July, 1836. 



13. Declination and Inclination of the Magnetic Needle at Pa- 

 ris. — On the 9th of November, 1835, at lA. 8' P. M. we found that 

 the northern extremity of the magnetic needle pointed to the west of 

 the astronomical north, 22° 4'. On the 3d of July, 1835, at 9h. 

 morning, the inclination was 67° 24'. — Arago in the Annuaire. 

 1836, p. 349. 



14. Progressive Rise of a portion of the bottom of the Mediterra- 

 nean. — M. Theodore Virlet lately addressed a note to the French 

 Academy of Sciences, in which he directed the attention of geolo- 

 gists to the probability of the speedy appearance of a new island in 

 the Grecian Archipelago, in consequence of the progressive rise of a 

 sunken solid rock, (composed of trachytic obsidian ?) in the gulf of 

 the volcano of Santorin. The following are the author's observations 

 on this subject : — " Towards the end of the last century, at the peri- 



