REV. JAMES FARQUHARSON ON THE AURORA BOREALIS. 
117 
tion, near the horizon, if coming from a meteor so high. On the other hand, 
— on the supposition that the meteor is only a few thousand feet above the 
surface of the earth, — any objection of this nature almost entirely vanishes. 
I shall again briefly return to the more general inquiries. 
Several of the observations of Captain Parry at Port Bowen support other 
details in this paper. Thus, at that place, where the variation is 123° 22' W., 
and the dip 88° l', he most frequently saw the meteor in the form of a low arch 
from about W. to S.E., more frequently bisected by the plane of the magnetic 
meridian, than that of the true ; and he describes the streamers as vertical, or 
in the plane of the dip. They are here too in the plane of the dip, or nearly 
so ; since in all situations they direct themselves to a point that appears up- 
wards of 15° south of the zenith. 
Will it not now be admitted as proved by the above observations, and their 
extensive verifications by so many different persons, — that the aurora borealis 
always presents itself in definite and very curious relations, to the lines of 
magnetism, indicated by the needle. 
That the streamers, in the direction of their length, coincide with the plane 
of the dip of the needle, or nearly so ; and that each individual streamer is, in 
fact, parallel to the dipping needle. 
That they form a thin fringe, stretching often a great way from E. to W. at 
right angles to the magnetic meridian. 
That the fringe moves away from the N. magnetic pole, by the extinction of 
streamers at its northern face, and the formation of new ones contiguous to its 
southern face. 
That the invariable regularity of its appearance, as seen by so many ob- 
servers, when it comes fully within command of the eye, near the zenith, 
shows the apparent irregularities, when it is seen either more northerly or 
southerly, to be only optical illusions. 
And that the region which it occupies is above and contiguous to that of 
the clouds, or that in which they are about to form ? 
I had stated in the paper sent to the Edin. Phil. Journ., that the meteor pre- 
cedes or accompanies westerly and south-westerly gales ; but of this there was 
unfortunately a misprint of south-easterly for south-westerly. It is, indeed, at 
the period of the westerly equinoxial gales that it is most frequent ; and when 
