291 



March 10, 1853. 

 LORD WROTTESLEY, V.P., in the Chair. 



The following letter, addressed to Michael Faraday, Esq., and by 

 him communicated to the Society, was read : — 



Dunse (N. Britain), March 1, 1853. 



Dear Sir, — In the report in the Athenseum of your lecture at the 

 Royal Institution on the 21st of January, I observe that you refer to 

 the highly interesting observations of Schwabe, Sabine, Wolf, Gautier, 

 &c., from which it would appear that a connection exists between the 

 solar spots and the variations of the terrestrial magnetic forces. 

 Since a connection has been demonstrated to exist between the lat- 

 *ter and auroral phenomena, I was induced to look over my notes 

 relating to the aurorse observed at this place, with a view to ascer- 

 tain whether these also exhibited maxima and minima, and if so, 

 whether the periods of such agreed with those of the solar spots and 

 of the magnetic variations. The subjoined table shows the distri- 

 bution of the aurorae seen here in the years 1838 to 1847 inclusive : — 





Jan. 



Feb. 



Mar. 



Apr. 



May. 



June. 



July. 



Aug. 



Sept. 



Oct. 



Nov. 



Dec. 



Sum. 



1838 



5 



3 



4 



3 









2 



4 



1 



2 



3 



27 



1839 



9 



1 



2 



4 



1 









11 



7 



2 



1 



38 



1840 



5 



5 



2 



4 









3 



7 



6 



6 



5 



43 



1841 



6 



3 



4 



4 



2 







3 



3 



3 



7 



7 



42 



1842 



2 



2 











1 





3 





1 





9 



1843 



2 



1 



1 



"i 









2 





"3 







10 



1844 



1 





2 













1 



3 



4 



2 



13 



1845 



1 



2 





i 









i 



2 



1 



1 



1 



10 



1846 





1 











i 



2 



7 



4 



1 





16 



1847 



2 



2 



3 



i 









1 



5 



6 



6 



4 



30 





33 



20 



18 



18 



3 





2 



14 



43 



34 



30 



23 



238 



These figures speak for themselves. I may remark that the re- 

 turns for 1842 are incomplete, as I was absent from home during 

 March and April of that year. In 1848 I was also absent for some 

 months, but from the number of aurorae which I have noted during 

 that year, I am satisfied that a maximum then occurred, both as re- 

 gards the number and the intensity of auroral displays. This pre- 

 sent winter has been very barren in auroral phenomena. 



Of crimson aurorae I find I have noted two in 1837, one in 1839, 

 one in 1846, three in 1847, and no less than six in 1848. 



A discussion of the aurorae seen in North America and the North 

 of Europe during a series of years would be interesting with re- 

 ference to the points in question. 



Apologizing for troubling you, 



I am, dear Sir, 

 With the greatest respect, yours faithfully, 

 Wm. Stevenson. 



