266 MEETIXGS. 



1 fir:?t noticed It at 9 o'clock, and was at once struck by the 

 unusual glow which was then very pronounced, but it was 

 apparently not till between 10.30 jind 11 o'(;lock that a 

 "display " occurred. 



" xlt that time a bank of stratus cloud lined the western 

 and northern horizon, and above this glowed the auroral arch 

 which stretched from N.W. to N.E., with the point of bright- 

 est light just about N.N.W. and some 30 degrees above the 

 horizon. Occasionally the light shone more brightly here and 

 there, and then it resembled, owing to the baid<: of cloud, as 

 nearly as can be, the glow one sees when the moon, though 

 still out of sight, is on the point of rising above the horizon 

 line. Some half-dozen times or more, faint feathery streamers 

 of whiter light shot up from the arch zenith wards to a height 

 of from 50 to 60 degrees. These streamers, of which there 

 were three or four, generally appeared simultaneously, and had 

 their origin in the patches of brighter light already referred 

 to. 



" But the prettiest effect of all developed at 1 1 p.m. 

 when a large patch of sky in the N.E. grew rosy-red, glowing 

 and fading several times. Against this background small 

 clouds that had become detached from the stratus bank stood 

 out in bold relief, giving to the general appearance of this 

 portion of the sky a peculiar and distinctly thundery look. 

 The red glow phase lasted at least ten minutes, during which 

 the sky became very cloudy, for the bank of stratus had 

 meanwhile risen considerably with the N.W. wind and broken 

 up into detached masses between which the auroral glow was 

 noticed to linger for some time after. 



" The following may not be a complete list of auroral 

 displays visible at Guernsey during the last quarter of a 

 centru'y, but they are dates when the phenomenon is known 

 to have been seen : — November 26th, 1883 ; August 12th, 

 1892 ; March 3Uih, 1894 ; April 11th, 1895 : September 9th, 

 1898, and February 9th, 1907." 



Mr. J. Linwood Pitts contributed some notes showing 

 how several ancient superstitions, such as the fable of the 

 Bernicle Goose being developed from connnon ships' barnacles, 

 the peril of walking under a ladder, the cure of rheumatism 

 by the rite of confirmation, and several others, still survived 

 in Guernsey, even among persons of social position and refine- 

 ]nent. Other cases of the same kind were mentioned by some 

 of the members present. 



Mr. E. D. Marquand, A.L.S., called attention to the 

 commonly accepted belief that the old Guernsey crdsset or 



