spectator remains in the same position, the rays will successively change from red to orange, green, yellow, &c. as in the exterior bow. SECTION II. METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. Aerial Vortex. 64. A very singular phenomenon took place in Poland on the 10th of May, 1818, which has been termed an air-spout. It committed dreadful ravages in the neighbourhood of Prague. Clouds suddenly rose in the east, which rapidly enveloped the whole east and south of the heavens, the west wind became more violent, and rapidly alternated with the east, so that a violent conflict between the two winds was perceived. During this conflict there was formed among the clouds a dark opaque pillar (or air-spout), the diameter of which was about twenty fathoms, and which rose in a whirlwind from the earth to the clouds, which hung very low. It committed dreadful ravages in the fields, carrying with it in its course, or scattering all around, stones, sand, and earth, and continued its progres, with a hollow sound, towards the east. By the refraction and reflection of the sun's rays, falling from the west on the pillar of dust, it looked like a column of fire in the clouds. This terrible pillar revolved with incredible rapidity, sometimes horiozontally, sometimes vertically, furrowing the ground, which it tore up, with its stones, several pounds in weight, which it hurled, whizzing like sky-rockets, into the air. This lasted about fifteen minutes. A silvery stripe, in the shape of a funnel, the point of which was turned towards the earth, was now formed in the middle of this air-spout, which began at its top, and almost reached the centre. This silvery stripe contracted itself several times, and at last totally disappeared. Luminous Appearance of the Atmosphere at 65. The celebrated traveller, M. Humboldt says, that a luminous appearance takes place, every night, in South America, on a mountainous and uninhabited spot on the borders of the river Catatumbo, near its junction with the Sulia. Being nearly in the meridian of the opening of the Lake of Maracaybo, navigators are guided by it as by a lighthouse. This light is distinguished at a greater distance than forty leagues. Some have ascribed it to the effects of a thunder-storm, or of electrical explosions, which might take place daily in a pass in the mountains; while others pretend that it is an air-volcano. M. Palacios observed it for two years at Merida. Hydrogen gas is disengaged from the ground in the same district: this gas is constantly accumulated in the upper part of the cavern Del Serrito de Monai, where it is generally set on fire to surprise travellers. Showers of Red Snow and Rain which fell in Italy. 66. A shower of red snow fell in Carniola, in the nights of the 5th and 6th of March, 1803. On the same night, a shower of snow, of a rose colour, fell over the surface of Carnia, Cadore, Belluno, and Feltri, to the height of twenty centimetres. The earth was previously covered with snow of a pure white, and the coloured snow was succeeded by other of a pure white; neither were the two kinds mingled together. But remained perfectly distinct even during liquefaction. When a portion of this snow was melted, and the water evaporated, a little finely-divided earth, of a rosy colour,remained, not attractable by the magnet, and consisting of silex, alumine, and oxyde of iron. The same phenomenon happened at the same time in the mountains of Valtelline, Bresci, and the Tyrol. This snow was of a red or blood-rose colour, and was underlaid and covered with white snow. Its colour faded gradually until it was dissolved. On the same evenings of the 5th and 6th of March, 1803, a shower of red snow fell at Pezzo, at the extremity of the Valle Camonica. It was preceded by a very violent wind on the 5th. On the evening of the 14th and 15th of March, 1813, coloured rain and snow fell over a very large extent of country. Red rain fell in the two Calabrias, and on the opposite part of Abruzzo, the wind being at east and south-east. Snow and hail of a yellow red colour, fell over all Tuscany with a North wind. Red snow fell at Tolmezzo, the wind being at north-east, and in the Carnia Alps; and, finally, snow of a brownish yellow colour fell at Bologna, the wind being south-west. A pound of this last snow was found to contain three grains of earthy powder. During the evaporation, a black substance was deposited, and the water became dirty yellow. The taste of this earthy substance was at first styptic, and then bitter. It deflagrated with nitre, and, on being analyzed, gave the following results: 300 gr. were composed of Combustible, vegetable, or animal matter...... 96 Silex ...... ..... ... ......... 96 36 69 297 67. On the 15th of April, 1816, coloured snow again fell in Italy, on Tonal and other mountains ; it was of a brick colour, and left an earthy powder, very light and impalpable, unctuous to the touch of an argillaceous odour, and tasting a little acid, saline, and astringent. These characters agreed with those of the powder left by the coloured snow of March, 1803. This powder analyzed gave the following results: Silex Iron 8 gr. The extent of country covered by these showers, as in 1803 and 1813, extending to eight degrees in length and breadth, proves that the cause is not local, but very general. These phenomena happen precisely at the time of the spring equinoxes, when impetuous winds are flying about, which originate in very distant countries. These winds it is supposed, may possibly elevate the sand, of distant regions in the air, and may convey the more minute particles to immense distances; and these, adhering to the water of the clouds, at last descend with it, either as hail, snow, or rain, and produce the phenomena under consideration. Meteoric Stone which fell near Chantonnay, in France. 68. On the 5th of August, 1812, at two o'clock in the morning, whilst the weather was calm and the sky clear, a meteor, dazzling with light, struck the sight of some travellers and countrymen in the neighbourhood of Chantonnay, in the department of La Vendée, on the road from Nantes to La Rochelle. It was said to have been seen at many leagues distance. The time of its duration was not observed, but it terminated in a violent explosion, which was compared to the loudest clap of thunder which had been heard in that country. In the middle of the day the master of the farm of la Haute Revétison, near Chantonnay, perceived, in a field near to his house, a large stone, which he had never before observed. It was buried two feet and a half in the earth, and had a strong smell of sulphur, which it retained during six months, but which at last was lost. Having undergone a chemical examination by M. Dubisson, that gentleman gave the following account of its composition. 1. The crust, or envelope, appears to me to differ from that of other falling stones of this kind, in passing from a black colour to the yellow of peroxyde of iron. 2. It differs also from other pieces of this kind in the internal parts, giving sparks when struck by steel, though not so abundantly as the outside. 3. The internal part, like the crust, scratches glass. 4. The form of the mass appears to have been rounded, and to have had many cells and cavities. The interior is granular, of an earthy appearance, with the exception of some brilliant points of meteoric iron, which are abundant, and some of the sulphuret of iron, rather rare. Its colour is variable, it passes from the common grey to the yellow of oxyde of iron, and afterwards to a blackish brown. Account of an Aërolite which fell at Chassigny, a village in France. 69. On the 3d of October, 1815, in the commune of Chassigny, a village four leagues to the southeast of Langres, at half past eight in the morning, the sky being clear and serene, and a gentle east wind prevailing, a rumbling noise was heard, like the discharge of musquetry and artillery. This noise, which seemed to come from the north-east, and from a cloud which hung over the horizon, of an indeterminate form, and a grey colour, had lasted a few minutes, when a man at work in a vineyard at some distance from the village, and who had his eyes fixed on this cloud, hearing a whistling like that of a cannon ball, saw an opaque body fall a few paces from him, and which emitted a dense smoke. Running to the spot, he saw a deep hole in the ground, and around it were fragments of stone of a peculiar kind, which he found as hot as if they had been long exposed to a strong sun. Some persons in the village of Chassigny, and parts adjacent, who happened to be sitting on the ground, thought they felt the shock of an earthquake during the detonation; but the peasant who saw the stone fall experienced no such sensation. Account of the above Aerolite, by M. Vauquelin. 1. Colour: brown externally, pearl grey internally. 2. Contexture: grainy, and broken in every direction. 3. Solidity: very slight, crumbling with the greatest facility. 4. Aspect: shining, and as if varnished. 5. Sound: none. Although it appears to have been roasted, it has not the dryness nor the hardness of glass when it is |