Jome luminous Arches • 4 1 
3. The direction of thefe arches from eaft to weft feems to 
me to afford no fufficient objection to our confidering them as a 
fpecies of aurora borealis : for if we fuppofe them to be formed 
by ftreams of eleftric matter, flowing in a meridional direc- 
tion, which are either flopped in the atmofphere, or rendered 
vifible at a certain diftance from the north or fouth ; this 
electric matter muft acquire the form of an arch, the pofition 
of which will be from eaft to weft. This idea, refpedting the 
origin of thefe luminous arches, is naturally fuggefted by Dr. 
Huxham’s defcription above quoted, and other of the preceding 
obfervations. The phenomenon of the 12th of April laft 
almoft forces this idea upon the mind, and demands affent. 
After weighing the preceding oblervations, you will not, I 
hope, think me precipitate, if I venture to give a name to the 
meteor I have been deferibing, and call it the arched aurora 
BOREALIS. 
Some luminous arches of this kind, which I did not fee, 
were obferved by others in the courfe of laft fpring. An ac- 
count of one was publifliedin the Newcaftle Paper, and another' 
was feen at Leeds. 
It is remarkable, that the greateft part of thofe which have 
been publicly noticed appeared near the equinoxes. The poles 
of all the complete arches which I have feen had a we ft era 
variation from the pole of the equator. The arches afeended 
obliquely towards the fouth; and in all the inftances in which 
I obferved the courfe of the wind, it blew from fome point 
between the N. and N.E. That feen by Mr. Swinton, in 
April 1764, was the reverfe of thefe in feveral particulars. 
Its pole was directed to the N.E. ' It afeended obliquely to the 1 
north of the zenith, and was preceded by a wind blowing 
from between the N. and N.W. 
Vol. LXXX, G 
Thefe 
