June 26, 1885.] 



SCIENCE 



527 



TROMHOLT'S UNDER THE RAYS OF 

 THE AURORA BOREALIS. 



' Wenn jemand eine reise thuht, so kann er 

 was erzahlen, ' — it must have been with this text 

 that Tromholt sat down to write the story of 

 his life in Lapland. He was there to study 

 the aurora borealis ; but not content with do- 



Fig. 1. — Norwegian circumpolar station at Bossekop 



ing a goodly amount of work, and doubtless 

 setting the results down in awe-inspiring col- 

 umns of figures, he devoted a part of his time 

 to trips to Lapp encampments near his observ- 

 ing station at Koutokaeino, a more extended 

 one to the Finnish station at Sorlankyla, and 

 another along the north coast to Boris Glebe 

 on the Russian boundary. 



As a Scandinavian, he ma} r well be proud of 

 the scenery of southern Norway, which he 

 refers to in the opening chapter. He says, 

 " Dig a canal right through Switzerland, and 

 steam down it : that would give some idea of 

 the voyage along the coast of Helgeland, Lo- 

 fodden, and Finnemarken." It may be even 

 unjust to refer to Norwegian waters as canals, 

 but still most will catch the author's meaning. 



Bossekop was the name of the place where 

 Tromholt and his party finally left the steamer 

 which had brought him from Bergen. This 

 hamlet is north of the arctic circle, and lies at 

 the head of the Alten Fiord. We are somewhat 

 surprised at our author's statement that Bosse- 

 kop is surrounded by green hills with soft out- 

 lines., as most northern landscapes remind one 



strongly of the top of Mount Washington ; and 

 we are not much re-assured by the picture given 

 of the place, which shows the usual assortment 

 of barren boat-houses, and the trader's house- 

 and stores. One frame-house and its adjuncts 

 constitute a hamlet in Norwaj\ 



It was in June, 1882, the part}' landed, and 

 began the preparations for their series of obser- 

 vations, which were to be con- 

 tinued from Aug. 1, 1882, for 

 one year. The description 

 given of the routine at the sta- 

 tion is not of such a character 

 as to lead one to be anxious to 

 emulate the work of such ex- 

 plorers. To sit blinking by the 

 fire, waiting for the appointed 

 hour, and then to venture out 

 with a cup of hot water for the 

 wet-bulb thermometer, in one 

 hand, and an oil-lamp in the 

 other, to spend a few minutes 

 reading the thermometer and 

 barometer, and sketching the 

 aurora, and roughty measuring 

 its position ; and to return to 

 the fireside, at last, with nearly 

 frost-bitten fingers and a frozen 

 lamp no longer burning. — this 

 surely is not an alluring exist- 

 ence. But hour after hour the operation was 

 gone through with, first by one, and then by 

 another, of the party. 



Tromholt himself left the main party at 

 Bossekop, and travelled south about 63 miles 

 to Koutokaeino. His reason for doing this 

 was, that, by observations at the two stations 



Under the rays of the aurora hnrealin: In the land of the 

 Lapps and Kvaens. By Sophds Tromholt. 2 vole. London, 

 Love, 1885. 



Fig. 2. — Tromholt's theory of an auroral ring. 



of the same auroral arch, some estimate might 

 be formed of the height at which the auroral 

 light is formed. 



In a chapter of ninety odd pages, Tromholt 

 reviews the theories of the aurora, classifies as 

 best he can the different phenomena connected 

 with them, and gives his own ideas in regard 

 to what is actually going on when we see a 



