LALOll ON THE " BLUE MIST. 113 



THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 1867. 



Robert Callwell, M. R. I. A., President, in the Chair. 



Read the Minutes of the previous meeting, which were signed. 



The following paper was then read : — 



Note on the " Blue Mist." By J". J". Lalor, P. R. G. S. I. 



Agreeable to the request of the Council expressed at our last meeting, 

 I take from my note-book the memoranda I made therein relative to 

 the occurrence of the so-called " Blue Mist," or " Fog," supposed by 

 many to accompany the " cholera plague." Had I known at the time 

 that the subject would have been thought worthy of recording in the 

 "Proceedings" of our Society, I should have endeavoured to give you a 

 fuller account thereof, and also endeavoured to note the total disappear- 

 ance of it from my neighbourhood. 



On Friday, the 28th September, shortly after 4 o'clock, walking 

 from Foxrock-road towards Kill-o'- the- Grange, nearly due east, I first 

 noticed this peculiar atmospheric phenomenon, resembling the vapour 

 emitted from a greenwood fire, after all the dense smoke had passed 

 away. It extended to the height of about twelve feet from the ground, 

 oscillating in a gentle manner, similar to the elevation and depression 

 of the sea after a storm, when the wind has completely lulled and the 

 surface remains unbroken. The extent of this alternate change did 

 not appear to exceed one foot. The second time I noticed it was on 

 the following Sunday, from half-past 12 till past 3 o'clock, when the 

 cloud-like vapour was distinctly visible, but more so when viewed 

 southward and westward — denser towards the earth ; but the same 

 oscillation was distinctly visible on the top, and in no instance could I 

 perceive the phenomena at a greater height than fourteen feet. On 

 both occasions the day was fine, and on Sunday the sun shone brightly 

 throughout the time I observed this peculiar appearance. 



In conclusion, I may observe, that when trees were in the vicinity 

 the effect was intensified, as they served as a screen, whereby the effect 

 was concentrated. 



It is possibly worthy of note, that the Saturday, Sunday, and Monday 

 were the most fatal days of the epidemic in Kingstown and neighbour- 

 hood, the attacks being numerous and rapid in the various stages, and 

 almost all proved fatal. Though the deaths on some days exceeded 

 these, still the time of the duration of the attack was more lengthened 

 in every other instance traceable by me. In confirmation, I beg to call 

 attention to the pamphlet, just published, edited by Dr. Thomas More 

 Madden, M. R. I. A., and by the late Charles Halliday, M. R. I. A.* 



* " A Statistical Inquiry into the Sanitary Condition of Kingstown," p. 7. 



