Mexrson.—On the recent Sun-glows. 965 
4. That the glows have differed from ordinary brilliant sunrises and 
sunsets in respect of intensity, duration, area, and time of appearance. 
Moreover, the colours of the after-glows have been in themselves very 
exceptional, and they have succeeded one another with more regularity 
than ordinarily occurs. 
5. That the period of their greatest intensity seems to have been from 
the middle of November to the middle of January—the display on the 27th 
November having been the most gorgeous of all. 
6. That the phenomena are very gradually disappearing, and becoming 
less and less remarkable as the weeks roll on. At the present time they 
are very intermittent, and, when visible at all, are exceedingly faint. 
Having described the phenomena, it remains for us now to consider 
The various Theories 
that have been advanced to account for the same, and we shall find that 
they are numerous and in some cases sufficiently ridieulous. As Tyndall 
says, ** Man longs for causes, and the weaker minds, unable to restrain their 
longing, often barter for the most theoretic pottage the truth which patient 
enquiry would make their own.” In the first place there is the ** Super- 
natural Theory.” The world is in its death-throes. It has always been 
foretold that portents in the sky and convulsions of nature should precede 
the coming dissolution. Scientific men cannot account satisfactorily for the 
heavenly splendours. It is only in their pride of intellect that they attempt 
to do so. The sun-glows must be classed with the fearful earthquakes, the 
terrific volcanic eruptions, the weird colours of the sun and moon ;—the 
spread of the destructive blights, the invention and employment of dyna- 
mite for dastardly purposes, the growth of human wickedness, ete., etc., are 
signs that the end of all things is near! We all know the form this argu- 
ment takes and how many good people there are who honestly advance it. 
But it need not detain us here to-night. 
Then, there are those who thought that Biela’s Comet, which was rush- 
ing towards us in January last, might have exercized sufficient influence in 
some mysterious way to produce the sun-glows; and some New South 
Welshman who probably had been sun-struck during the fervid days of 
December last in his colony, attributed the world-wide appearances to the 
sandy deserts in the interior of Australia. Another theory, scarcely more 
respectable perhaps, is that the light is such as has been travelling to 
us from distant suns for thousands of years, and has only just sueceeded in 
penetrating to our dark continents. In connection with which, what expla- 
nation is given of the disappearance of the abnormal light does not appear. 
Then, although the glows were repeatedly seen when there was not the 
slightest magnetic disturbance, we have, of course, the electrical theory. 
* 
