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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1142 



entire sky had the appearance of a luminous 

 umbrella; the well defined center of which 

 was southeast of the zenith. A short time 

 after the commencement of the aurora a band- 

 like corona stretched across the greater por- 

 tion of the heavens from east to west through 

 the focus, as shown in Fig. 2, and at another 

 time a large irregular corona formed around 

 that region of the sky. 



Hampshire. In the report it was stated that 

 the aurora covered the southern sky and that 

 the " umbrella " effect of the streamers showed 

 a center a short distance south of the zenith. 

 It was seen also by Dr. J. A. Brown, pro- 

 fessor of physics in the Syrian Protestant Col- 

 lege, Beirut, Syria, who was on a lake in the 

 Adirondacks, N. T., and who described the 

 display to the writer as a very remarkable one. 



Fig. 1. Auroral focus as it appeared at 8:20 p.m., August 26, at Prince Edward Island. {The 

 heavens are shown as they appear when facing south and looking at the zenith.) 



The auroral glow showed the very rapid 

 kaleidoscopic changes described by Professor 

 Nutting and the phenomenon was indeed in- 

 spiring on account of the unusual grandeur 

 of the display. The color of the streamers as 

 seen from Prince Edward Island throughout 

 the entire evening was pale greenish; almost 

 white, and at no time reddish or the intense 

 light green frequently observed. 



The earth appeared as if illuminated by 

 bright moonlight, except the striking effect 

 due to the absence of all shadows, as already 

 reported by Professor Nutting. 



The aurora has been reported in a letter to 

 the Monthly Evening Shy Map by Mr. Prank 

 C. Porter, who observed it at Ashland, New 



His attention was directed to the aurora with 

 special interest on observing the streamers in 

 the southern sky. 



The occurrence of the aurora borealis in the 

 southern half of the heavens appears to be an 

 infrequent phenomenon; at least in the tem- 

 perate zone of North America. 



An aurora was observed by the writer some 

 years ago on September 11 at Grand Lake, 

 Maine, which completely arched the southern 

 sky with bright streamers. That display began 

 about eight o'clock in the evening and lasted 

 several hours. At first, no auroral phenom- 

 enon appeared north of the zenith, but as the 

 evening advanced a faint glow was seen in 

 the north. Particular note was made at the 



