Chap. X. THE ZODIACAL LIGHT. 207 



would fade and then reappear with fresh strength ; hut 

 generally the inci'ease and decrease of hrilliancy was 

 uniform. It was seldom discernible after ten o'clock. 



Unfortunately the book containing these observa- 

 tions on the light has been lost, but a few notes on 

 it are scattered here and there in my journal. 



Ajyril loth. The weather has been cloudy, with a 



few showers To-night the sky presents 



a magnificent appearance after sunset. The glow 

 coming from the west was so bright that it over- 

 shadowed the brightness of the Milky Way. I could 

 only distinguish it above the Sword of Orion ; the 

 glow was the brightest below the planet Mars, and 

 the base of the pyramid reached, on the south, the 

 part of the Milky Way at the foot of the Cross. At 

 the north point of the horizon its extent was about 

 the same. 



April I5tk. The weather has been cloudy until 

 past noon, and to-night the sky is clear though a 

 little hazy. The glow of light coming from the west 

 is beautiful, and is quite white ; at seven o'clock it 

 was still of great intensity, though it had dimin- 

 ished. I do not remember to have seen it so bright 



before. 



Mar/ 5th. Yesterday the bright yellow light which 

 appears after sunset was magnificent, and could be 

 seen above the ti'apezium in Orion notwithstanding 

 the strong moonlight, the moon being then nearly 

 at the full. Indeed, I have never seen the zodiacal 

 light shine so brightly ; one might fancy, if it was 

 not towards the west, the dawn of morning coming. 



Ma^j 14:th. After sunset I observed a phenomenon 



