METEOROLOGICAL CORRESPONDENCE. 411 



or, ill other words, tluit lightning is the result of conditions almost precisely 

 analagous to those under which sparks are drawn fronn the lower end of a kite 

 string iinder a clear sky. 



From the same. 



January, 1867. 



During my residence at St. Michael's, Russian America, between Alaska 

 and Behriug's straits, while in the service of the Western Union Telegraph Com- 

 pany, I kept a meteorological register according to the instructions received 

 from you. This is now in the possession of the company, but I understand 

 that a copy is to be sent to the Smithsonian Institution. 



The register extends over a period of eleven months, between October 1, 1865, 

 and September 1, 1866. The barometer, thermometer, direction and force of the 

 wind, and face of the sky, were noted three times a day, and the first two, on 

 every seventh day during the winter months, hourly, betwen 7 a. m and 9 p.m. 

 I also noted casual phenomena, auroras, haloes, &c., and the times of the be- 

 ginning and ending of storms of rain and snow. The amount of precipitation 

 was not recorded. 



The general movement of the air during the year appeared to be from a little 

 east of north, though in midsummer the southerly winds were the most numer- 

 ous and violent. In every instance, save one, during the winter, a high wind, 

 no matter from v/hat quarter, was followed by a rise in the thermometer. The 

 one exception was a southerly wind from the direction of open water. 



The maximum of the thermometer Avas 69^° Fahrenheit, in July, the minimum 

 — 36'^ Fahrenheit in January. It probably descended still lower, but not at the 

 hours of observation. The mean temperature for the three spring months was 

 2S:P Fahrenheit ; for the summer, 52^-° Fahrenheit. That of the year was proba- 

 bly near 26° Fahrenheit — possibly a little lower. 



We had one sharp thunder shower in July, the first that had occurred at St. 

 Michael's for thirteen years, according to the statement of the residents, though 

 thunder is not rare in the mountains of the interior. 



The aurora was often observed, and was sometimes very brilliant, though not 

 quite as frequent as I had expected. Ten was the greatest number observed 

 in one mouth. One or two instances, I think, are worth mentioning here. 



On the evening of August 23, after the corona had formed, streamers de- 

 scended to all parts of the horizon ; a cloud filled the whole southeastern por- 

 tion of the heavens, but the streamers appeared even brighter against its dark sur- 

 face than in other parts of the sky. It is my belief that they were between us 

 and the cloud, which was quite dense. I observed a similar appearance in Oc- 

 tober, 1865, but I have not the record of it with me. Later in the evening the 

 ordinary arch from northeast to northwest appeared. 



An aurora, observed by Messrs. Pease and Ketchum, at Aloukuk, a place 

 about forty miles inland from the head of Norton Sound, in November, 1865, 

 was described as appearing against the side of a mountain a few miles distant, 

 so that the top of the hill was seen above the display, and it was also accom- 

 panied with a hissing noise. The air was quite still, its temperature near — 30° 

 Fahrenheit. While the display lasted it was light enough to read the finest 

 print. 



I have never myself heard these sounds with the aui'ora, though once, in the 

 month of January, they were reported to me at St. Michael's by Russian resi- 

 dents, at a time when, on account of indisposition, I was unable to verify the 

 statement by personal observation. I have no doubt, however, of their occa- 

 sional occurrence. 



In all cases the points of the compass are given according to the magnetic 

 and not the true north. The variation in the vicinity of St. Michael's, accord- 

 ing to Russian admiralty charts, is UO'^ 30' east. 



