Assuming this as a fact, and that the 
aorta polar opening is 1,000 miles in dia¬ 
meter, why would not the sun’s ray s 
the winter solstice, (21st Dec.) enter the 
southern aperture, and appear around the 
north pole, in the shape of the Aurora 
Borealis ? I know this hypothesis is dog¬ 
ged with difficulties, and what hypothe-j 
sis is not? How does Galileo account lor I 
the Aurora Borealis? Galileo has beenl 
guilty of a gross misnomer, His essay 
is disavowed by all protestant Christians. 
A writer for a public paper in the 19th 
century who has the shameless effrontery 
to brand the author of a new theory as 
an Atheist (when nothing of the kind is 
contained in the theory) should sign his 
name a ‘Dominican,’ ‘Omar,’or ‘Valvefde.’ 
The subject itself is worthy of investi¬ 
gation. [ hope it will attract the notice, 
and employ the pens of real philosophers 
and astronomers. I hope Dr. Mitchill’s 
correspondents will not be discouraged 
by the idle raillery of the superficial, nor 
the ghostly censures of the bigotted. In 
short, l hope the time has arrived, so de¬ 
voutly wished and prayed for by all good 
men, and thus emphatically expressed by 
one ot ; }he best, “that no man need be 
deterred from the search of truth by the 
fear of having an opprobrious epithet at¬ 
tached to liis name.” 
R [TTENHOUSE. 
Niagara Falls, Sept. 25, 1819. 
