On the late Exceptional Season. 59 



a very rapidly changing core, and the other to rapidly 

 moving conductors under a constant core ? And might not 

 an aurora of the latter kind indicate the approach of a 

 change of weather ? 



" These remarks are thrown out in order to invite comment 

 and criticism, and they will have served their purpose if 

 they direct attention to the part that may be played by 

 moving conductors in the phenomena of terrestrial magnet- 

 ism. It will be noticed that these remarks do not touch 

 upon the mysterious and interesting connexion believed to 

 exist between magnetic disturbances and the frequency of 

 solar spots." 



The last six years may be considered as constituting a 

 period of unusually dry seasons. 



The first radical change in this order of things occurred 

 in the beginning of April, this year, shorth^ after the 

 occurrence of one of the most brilliant auroras ever witnessed 

 here, and which was general in both hemispheres, appear- 

 ing with great splendour in the north ; from this time 

 cloudy skies, and unusually frequent and copious rains became 

 the ordinary state of climate, until a few weeks ago. I have 

 since then frequently noticed that several of the brightest 

 auroral displays were quickly followed by what we usually 

 call bad weather — ^storms of wind, with thunder and rain. 

 This has appeared so marked, that I sometimes found myself 

 unwisely venturing a prediction of bad weather, simply 

 because of the occurrence of an aurora. 



These coincidences brought to my mind Dr. Balfour 

 Stewart's suggestions, and I have lately examined our 

 meteorological and magnetic records for the several months 

 under review in order to ascertain to what extent auroras 

 have been followed by marked changes in weather, and 

 although the results are not quite conclusive, they appear 

 sufficiently confirmatory to warrant me drawing attention 

 to them^ and' to encourage careful observation in this 

 direction. / 



The following information has been gathered solely from 

 the records of our own observatory, but I intend comparing 

 these with observations made over the rest of the Australian 

 continent, Tasmania, and New Zealand, so soon as the whole 

 year's records are available, and bringing the results under 

 your notice in a supplementary paper at some early meeting. 



In looking over the magnetograph papers for the last 

 twelve months, a series of disturbances of greater or less 



