680 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1141 



practically the same features in this locality 

 as in "Wisconsin and Michigan. 



This information may be of interest as ex- 

 tending considerably the recorded area over 

 which the display was visible. 



Wilmer G. Stover 

 Ohio State University, 

 October 24 



To the Editor of Science: I have been 

 greatly interested in the descriptions of the 

 auroral display of August 26, and would like 

 to add a word to what you have already pub- 

 lished. I observed the phenomenon at 

 Ephraim, in Door County, Wisconsin, be- 

 tween ten o'clock and midnight; other ob- 

 servers at the same place reported to me that 

 it lasted until long after midnight. The de- 

 scription of the display as given by your con- 

 tributors corresponds in the main with my own 

 observation, but with one difference: I saw 

 two distinct color regions in addition to the 

 white pulsation described by all the others. 

 At the zenith the color was white, but in the 

 east there was a region that changed several 

 times from pure white to a brilliant rose color, 

 while in the north there were streamers of deli- 

 cate green. The universal, shadowless illu- 

 mination was very remarkable, as was also 

 the display in the southern sky, where the 

 streamers reached almost to the horizon. 



John C. Hessler 



The James Millikin University 

 October 21 



To the Editor op Science : I have been in- 

 terested in the reports of the auroral display of 

 last August, by Professor Nutting and others. 

 The aurora was seen with all the brilliancy 

 and variation of colors described by Professor 

 Nutting, at Lake Minnetonka, near Minneapo- 

 lis, Minn., on the 26th of August. 



We were out in a boat, and, when well out in 

 the lake, there appeared what at first seemed 

 to be the glow thrown on the eastern sky by a 

 fire. The light was not as red as that pro- 

 duced by a fire, and there were no clouds in the 

 sky where the light first appeared. As we 

 watched it, it soon became evident that the 

 light was not from a fire but that of an aurora. 



It appeared a little to the north of east down 

 near the horizon, gradually rising and forming 

 an arch across the northern sky a little higher 

 than is usual for auroras in Minnesota. Then 

 another band appeared below the first and 

 lower down in the north. These bands were 

 not as definite as in most of the auroras that I 

 have seen in Minnesota, nor did they show the 

 vertical bands of light, but the diffuse light 

 seemed concentrated in these two regions. 



Then more rapidly the light mounted up- 

 wards and as it reached almost to the zenith 

 there suddenly was formed what seemed a vor- 

 tex of scintillating iridescent light. Pausing 

 here for a moment the light continued to ex- 

 tend on to the southern half of the sky until 

 it reached nearly half way to the southern 

 horizon, or until nearly all of the sky was 

 lighted with this constantly changing light in 

 bands, and areas. 



The rapidity of change both in distribution 

 as well as in color of the light was fully as 

 marked as that described by Professor Nut- 

 ting. 



We watched the display until ten o'clock, 

 and others said that it was even more bril- 

 liant later. H. B. Latimer 



University of Nebraska, 

 October 23 



To the Editor of Science : Among the re- 

 ports on the unusual auroral display of Au- 

 gust 26, I see none from farther west than 

 Michigan. It might be of interest to readers 

 of Science to know that this display was visi- 

 ble in all its splendor at Winton, Minnesota, 

 north of Duluth, and was very much as de- 

 scribed by Professor Nutting, except for the 

 lack of color which he describes. 



R. E. Hudelson 



University of Missouri, 

 October 26 



To the Editor of Science: Unfortunately, 

 I was not further west than Brainerd, Minne- 

 sota, on August 26, but that is in the same 

 latitude and five hundred miles west of Lake 

 Douglas, in Michigan, where Professor Nut- 

 ting saw the auroral display. These displays 

 are common occurrences in the wintry months 

 in this locality, often being brilliant, but in 



