159 

 i 



4th, 1.15 A brilliant auroral display concurrently with mild 

 blizzard conditions. An intensely illuminated cur- 

 tain formed the main part of the aurora and 

 stretched across the zenith, trending X.W. For 

 a short period a red selvage appeared below. 

 Ripples of luminescence travelled from end to end 

 at a wild and rapid pace. AYlien the excitation 

 travelled more slowly and in a more concentrated 

 fashion the jerky effect noted is best described as 

 a pulsation. The building up of the curtain by 

 vertical filaments, exactly as the teeth are arranged 

 in a comb, was well illustrated. As the exciting 

 cause traversed the length of the band in a 

 horizontal direction it caused a kindling along a 

 median zone, and this was followed quickly by a 

 vertical travel of the exciting cause, both upwards 

 and downwards, along the filaments. In the case 

 of the downward travel, it strongly reminded one 

 of the shower of descending light produced by the 

 explosion of a rocket occurring at its maximum 

 altitude. The upward kindling was similar, but 

 of course inverted. This particular curtain re- 

 mained strongly illuminated for 10 minutes; it 

 then faded, and had disappeared in 30 minutes. 

 Other parallel curtains traversed the heavens, and 

 all, towards their southern extension, showed cur- 

 vature to the E. Besides the rippling luminescence 

 referred to, there was distinct and rapid bodily 

 drift to the N.W. TYe watched a beautiful para- 

 bolic form develop just south of the zenith. The 

 luminescence first appeared at what afterwards 

 formed the apex which was at the southern end ; 

 the axis of the parabola pointed S. by E. from 

 the zenith. Very soon the whole became an ill- 

 defined nebulous mass, and drifted away rapidly 

 to the N.W. 2 as if impelled by the blizzard wind. 

 The whole display lasted only about an hour, and 

 was noted no more all night. 

 ^).4o The wind now rapidly fell and a well-defined auroral 

 arc developed overhead, appearing to trend in 

 a S. by W. direction, but becoming more X. 

 and S. during the next half-hour. 



14.00 A faint aurora developed in a AY. by X. direction as 

 an arc over the zenith. 



15.00 The curtain still faintly seen, but now more truly E.. 

 and W. A faint auroral haze was observable in 

 the S. and S.W. near the zenith. 



15.30 Dead-calm atmosphere. The curtain now well defined, 

 trending across the zenith to the W. by X. It Avas 

 but slightly bowed, with the concavity directed 

 towards the S. It showed a slow bodv-travel to 

 the E. 



16.30 The same curtain appeared, drifted somewhat X. of 

 the zenith, but preserving approximately the same 

 trend. It now appeared to be bowed to the X. ; 

 the bowed appearance was, therefore, due largely 

 to the perspective effect, and the luminous band 

 must be almost or quite straight. 



