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familiar with the rain-bow, and are glad to see it. The 

 cause of it is plain, being formed by the sunlight pass- 

 ing through the drops of water and separating them 

 into their prismatic colors, seven in number, as follows: 

 violet, indigo^ blue, green, yellow^ orange and red ar- 

 ranged in order. Often another but fainter bow is 

 seen beside the other which is called the secondary bow. 

 The colors in this bow being scarcely discernable, the 

 violet showing the plainest. What is prettier than the 

 rainbow after a storm, and ere the black clouds have 

 departed to see this gailj' colored arch over us, always 

 bringing to mind the story told in scripture in refer- 

 ence to it. Many and amusing are the tales told of 

 children and other persons searching for gold at the 

 end of the bow, many and sad were the disappoint- 

 ments and experiences of these misled hunters of for- 

 tune. 



The Aurora Borealis or northern light is another 

 beautiful display exhibited by nature in the polar 

 regions. It occurs in various forms, sometimes huge 

 pillars of fire seem to move across the heavens. At 

 other times the whole sky appears to be illuminated 

 by a vast scarlet snow falling and drifting about. 

 The most common figure is an arch of fire, with num- 

 erous streamers proceeding from it and moving toward 

 the zenith. Auroras occur usually in the high lati- 

 tudes though not in the immediate vicinity of the 

 poles. These gorgeous displays are caused by the pas- 

 sage of electricity through the upper regions. The 

 proof taken is as follows: During the appearance of 

 an Aurora telegraph wires manifest an unusual degree 

 of disturbance; also the magnetic needle is subject to 



