GLOWING. SKIES OF NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1883. 567 
Within the last two weeks the strange red glow in the sky after sunset and 
before sunrise which attracted so much attention here last week has been wit- 
nessed across the whole North American continent, from California to Maine. 
The phenomenon seenis to have been first seen on the Pacific coast on the even- 
ing of November 20th; and in San Francisco, just as in New York, a week later, 
people believed that the light was due to a great conflagration. It is a curious 
fact that while the dates of the appearance of this phenomenon at different places 
in the United States are such as to suggest that it advanced from west to east 
across the continent, it was seen in England as early as November 9th. The 
various descriptions given leaves no doubt that the strange illuminations beheld 
in England were of the same nature as those witnessed here. Besides, although 
the most conspicuous feature of the display here was the red color of the heavens, 
yet other peculiar optical effects were perceived which suggest a close resemblance 
in many respects between this phenomenon and the green sun and its accompany- 
ing appearances, seen in India and South America in September. The explana- 
tion offered of the strange color of the sky in India, namely, that it was caused 
by vapors emitted by the Javan volcanoes in their great eruption at the end of 
August, seemed reasonable enough ; but there were great difficulties in the way 
of the acceptance of the same explanation of the South American phenomenon^ 
one of the chief of which was the fact that the Sun appeared green in South 
America before it did in India. Nevertheless, the phenomena in the two coun- 
tries were so similar that it was natural to ascribe them to a similar origin, and 
evidences of a volcanic outburst in South America like that in Java were sought 
for. But it now appears that no such disturbance has occurred in South America. 
The likeness between the recent sunset and sunrise phenomena here and the 
appearances in South America and India just described also suggests a common, 
or at least a similar, cause. The suggestion that this cause may be the presence 
of meteoric dust in the atmosphere seems to fit all the circumstances better than 
any explanation yet offered, although it, too, encounters difficulties. The earth 
has within the last three weeks crossed the tracks of two meteor streams, and the 
number of brilliant meteors seen recently has been such as to attract special atten- 
tion from observers of the heavens. These meteors have nearly all left long 
trails in their flight, and the latest investigations show that these meteor trails are 
only incandescent dust or vapor, like that into which the meteors themselves are 
entirely converted unless, as occasionally happens, they strike the earth before 
being completely consumed. On Thursday night a very remarkable meteor of 
this kind was seen in this city, and the observation by Professor Brooks on Wed- 
nesday evening of a wonderful shower of telescopic meteors adds to the mass of 
evidence that the earth has just been passing through a region rich in these cos- 
mic particles, which, falling under its attraction, have plunged into the atmosphere 
in great numbers. 
The suggestion has also been oflered that the supposed meteoric matter may 
be the debris of the famous comet of Biela, which many years ago split in two and 
VII-36 
