i8 94 .] 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



103 



The Aurora Borealis. — It is seldom the Northern Lights, or 

 Aurora Borealis, are seen to advantage in these latitudes, but a 

 brilliant display was witnessed in the Lake District on the early morn- 

 ing of the 31st ult. It is half-an-hour past midnight, and the dogs are 

 barking in the far away Crosthwaite valley farms ; the owls are hooting 

 lustily, and the birds are astir in the holly bushes and flutter in the 

 laurels. It is as bright as dawn, so bright that it is sufficiently easy to 

 see to write a letter and describe one of the most beautiful displays of 

 Aurora Borealis which has for years past ever been witnessed in this 

 district. Skiddaw lies dark and grey against a bank of palpitating 

 brilliancy, the streamers of light shoot up more than half-way to the 

 zenith in three well-defined bands, between which the colour is some- 

 times pink, at other times changing to a violet hue. The coruscations 

 dart across the colour bands, mingling therewith their silvery darts and 

 making the whole heavens gleam. The splendour dies away, and a 

 ligtTThaze hangs in grey folds over Skiddaw. Instantly the haze in the 

 valley is swept away, and a great light, as like the reflection of a great 

 conflagration beyond the hills pierces the heavens, and the stars and 

 constellations to the north-east are lost in a sea of trembling splendour. 

 Great flashes of shooting light that almost seem to touch the trees of 

 the garden on the hill, illuminate the sky from the Lion to the Northern 

 Bear, bringing into existence weird forms which for the moment are 

 almost stationary, and then dissolve into thin air. Close above are 

 flashes which, quite apart from the great triple arc of light which 

 scintillates and palpitates beyond Skiddaw to the North, come and 

 go, giving rise to the feeling that these brilliant displays portend to 

 nothing good, easily making us comprehend how the old dwellers in the 

 valley regarded these Northern Lights as harbingers of ill omen, and of 

 the coming Judgment Day. — Correspondent. 



A new list of works relating to botanical subjects (published previous 

 to the year 1800) and to the study of botany generally has been issued 

 by Messrs. J. B. Bailliere et Fils, 19, Rue Hautefeuille, Paris. The 

 compilation gives the titles and authors of over one thousand works and 

 treatises dealing with this interesting section of natural science, 

 which is daily engaging more freely the attention of students and those 

 whose avocations bring them directly into contact with the life history 

 of trees. It will be of great value also to those interested in the 

 investigation of the development and progress of the science, and will 

 be forwarded by the publishers to all readers of the British Natuvalist 

 who may require it. 



