262 Canadian Record of Science. 



Both the white and colored climaxes, or pulses of light, rose out of 

 the West. The colors began with rose red, about 3.40 a.m., and 

 continued until dawn. Flat, even tints were the rule, rays or beams 

 of exceptional length were one shade throughout, and would change 

 tint as different colors rippled together ; but after 5 o'clock, when 

 things got a little mixed, a few lilac tinted beams exhibited orange and 

 red butts, but they were probably two sets of short rays in the same 

 line. 



The light at the early morning climax was more diffused, but as 

 bright, if not brighter, than moonlight. I could read pencil notes — 

 and read small lettering on a tombstone at about 10 ft. distance. The 

 following night (Hallowe'en), at 4 o'clock, I could hardly read the 

 same lettering 6 in. from my nose. 



During the first night very active and long beams (some of them 

 with a visual angle of quite 30 degrees) and broken arches were the 

 pronounced feature, while after midnight of the second night the 

 nervous, fuming, fluttering light was most prevalent, and but few 

 short and ill-defined beams were seen. 



During the first night the set of the arches centred W. of N. ; while 

 the second night arches centred well E. of N. The difference was very 

 noticeable. The W. to E. drift, however, was not apparently 

 influenced by this change. 



On Friday night I remarked a peculiar thing. From Fletcher's 

 Field I seemed to be looking up at the legs of the arches resting on the 

 misty horizon ; while later, from the top of the mountain, I got the 

 distinct impression of looking down on the lower ends of beams resting 

 in the horizon mist. Whether it was some illusion of the night, the 

 ground mist or light, I do not know, but the effect was to place the 

 legs of the arches more in the middle foreground than past the 

 horizon. This impression was not repeated the second night. 



The arches that formed were not of uniform span, and several times 

 volute forms and serried arches with broken echelon steps appeared, but 

 changes of form and changes of phase to rippling beams would only 

 be a matter of a moment or two. As to other forms, the corona was 

 in evidence more or less all night, and twice for a brief moment the 

 serpentine form which figures so largely in illustrations of Aurora was 

 seen. It was evidently an accidental appearance, resulting from the 

 disposition of long and short beams in several parallel arched 

 fragments. 



The brilliance and beauty of the display between four and five 

 o'clock in the morning of the 31st was surpassingly grand. Much the 

 finest display within my experience. 



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