( I 4° ) 
January, 
\ 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE HALO IN THE ZENITH, AND THE HALO OF go 3 . 
By the Rev. S. 
Sir, — Both of these rare phenomena 
having occurred during the present 
month (September, 1877) a brief no- 
tice is now given by an observer in 
the neighbourhood of Eythorne, near 
Sandwich, Kent. 
The halo in the zenith was seen on 
September 8th, from about 4.30 to 5.30 
p.m. The weather was fine, and the 
sky marked by a number of bands 
and patches of cirrhus cloud. A 
single parhelion appeared, in an open- 
ing of the clouds, where the sky was 
clear. This was disti ncftly chromatic, 
and globular in form. It lay to the 
north of the sun. 
The peculiarity in this appearance 
was in the bright colouring of the 
Barber, F.M.S. 
that, even in an apparently clear sky, 
there may be above us vast quanti- 
ties of snow crystals and vapour par- 
ticles. 
In regard to the weather succeeding 
this appearance, we may note that 
within forty-eight hours there were 
, heavy showers, and one very violent 
squall. 
The halo of go 5 , which was seen 
from the same neighbourhood as the 
preceding, occurred at about 12.30 on 
the morning of Tuesday, September 
25th. This was also attended by a 
single mock-sun, through which the 
arc of the halo passed (see figure). 
This line also passed through the sun 
halo (which was, indeed, almost as 
distinct as that of a rainbow) and in 
the character of the originating me- 
dium. It is well known that the 
cirrhus cloud — consisting, as it does, 
of snow-crystals floating at a consi- 
derable elevation — often gives rise to 
halos and prismatic bands of light. 
On this occasion the line of the halo 
was intersected by well-defined bands 
of cirrhus, lying almost parallel to 
one another. There was no break in 
the arc of the halo, which was as 
visible upon the blue sky as on the 
cloud. From this observation we 
may make the inference that the 
actual limits of the cloud constituents 
are not always confined to the visible 
limits of the cloud itself. This per- 
haps may be thought to be only 
another way of asserting the fad 
itself, — or, rather, seemed to branch 
out from the sun, on either side, and 
made a circuit of the heavens. It 
was not prismatic, but of a grayish 
tint, and was broken in its outline, in 
the part of the sky opposite the sun, 
by patches of cirro cumulus. 
It is remarkable that the weather 
following, in this case, was finer than 
had been experienced for some time 
previous to the manifestation. 
Until October 8th, when there was 
a gale, the air was clear and fresh, 
and sunny during the day, with the 
usual autumn mists in the morning 
and evening (wind easterly for the 
most part). It may be remarked, 
however, as I have noted on previous 
occasions in this Journal and else- 
where (“ Quart. Journ. of Science,” 
Nos. 26 and 41, and “ Nature,” March 
