December 8, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



817 



map, with whatever data concerning brilliancy 

 and colors are available, the conclusion seems 

 plain that the northern stations across the 

 continent show the most variety in color. Re- 

 ports from northern Michigan, Hector, B. O, 

 and Glacier Bay indicate brilliant and varied 

 colors, and these are the farthest north of 

 stations reporting in their respective longi- 

 tudes. Four others report less striking color 

 effects: Ephraim, Wis., Lake Minnetonka, 

 Minn., Beartooth Mts., Mont., and possibly 

 Teton Co., Mont.; and all of these speak of 

 pink or rose. All of those reporting from 

 farther south mention or imply lack of color 

 except the usual pale green. It appears there- 

 fore that variety of coloring increased north- 

 ward. Another interesting point is that the 

 display began everywhere at approximately the 

 same hour, local time: that is, in the neigh- 

 borhood of eight or nine p.m., or soon after 

 sunset. Apparently then it moved westward 

 across the continent, though it is barely pos- 

 sible that it merely became visible in each 

 case with oncoming darkness. One or two 

 of those reporting mention a streaming move- 

 ment from east to west, which may or may not 

 be of importance. 



It is perhaps worth mentioning that during 

 the week following August 26 two other 

 auroras were visible, on August 30 and Sep- 

 tember 2. The latter was a very fine one — a 

 bright greenish glow covering the whole 

 northern sky almost to the zenith. 



William S. Cooper 



Minneapolis, Minn., 

 November 16, 1916 



It seems worth while to place on record the 

 fact that the auroral display of August 26, 

 1916, recorded in so many parts of the conti- 

 nent, was especially brilliant at Juneau, 

 Alaska. I noted it from about eight until 

 after ten p.m. and was told by others that it 

 continued until nearly midnight. It was the 

 first one that I noted last summer, but I can 

 not recall any of its details except that it was 

 one of unusual brilliancy. 



Alfred H. Brooks 



Washington, D. C, 

 November 13, 1916 



I have read with great interest, in the is- 

 sues of October 20 and November 10, the let- 

 ters recording the auroral display of August 

 26. I notice that the most western record, as 

 given in Science, is from Collins, Washington, 

 and the most northern one, in western North 

 America, from the Selkirk Range in British 

 Columbia. It may interest you to know that 

 the auroral display on August 26 was a most 

 magnificent one on the coast of Alaska. I was 

 at the time a few miles south of Skagway, 

 Alaska, and had an opportunity to witness the 

 phenomenon in all its splendor. The display 

 of all the colors of the spectrum rushing to- 

 gether from all directions into a gigantic 

 whirlpool in zenith and then dispersing, lasted 

 for at least half an hour. I may add that for 

 a few days before the auroral display the elec- 

 tric conditions in the air were such as to 

 render it almost impossible to use wireless 

 telegraphy between points in Yukon and 

 Alaska. 



My colleague, Mr. H. T. Gussow, Dominion 

 botanist, informs me that he witnessed a most 

 brilliant auroral display on the 26th of August 

 •in the Straits of Georgia, between Vancouver 

 Island and the mainland of British Columbia. 

 M. O. Malte 



Central Experimental Farm, 

 Ottawa, Canada, 

 November 13, 1916 



THE AURORAS OF 1859 



So much has been said about the aurora of 

 August 26 of this year that I have been think- 

 ing it might be well to make a note on the 

 similar displays of August 28 and September 

 1, 1859, which few of the present readers of 

 Science probably saw, but which seem to have 

 been more splendid and remarkable. In both 

 of these the streamers covered the whole sky, 

 north and south, east and west, as seen from 

 the Atlantic coast, in about latitude 43, where 

 the present writer was then located, and con- 

 verged to a point south and a little east of the 

 zenith, indicating that they were in fact par- 

 allel to the dipping compass needle, the varia- 

 tion of which was a little west, for the north 

 end. 



