Mobile register and journal., 1845-04-01

INSTRUMENTATION fellow
ing description ola singular appearance in the hea-
yens ID taken from Tie Saratoga Republican.
''Between IL and o'clock ON Wednesday, (12ll
nst.) remarkable phen0n enon appeared IN oui
atnusl Two emil haloA otlcireles intersectine
each other. The larger one WAS horizontal, of ths
altitude Of the sun, and from 80 10 100 degrees in d.
ameter. II circled the heavens, having the sun ia
ITS circumference At the south. and was Of white
color, such AS 10 often seen about the moon, onl,
broader and much more distinct. The others was
about one-third the diameter oil the larger and had
the sun Tor lis center. This circle WAS beautiful,
irsed through good portion Of it's extent, the RED
being innermost Or next the sun. At the points o.
lnetseoton OF the two circles, ain par,elia appear
ed, facing away into the brightest colors of the rain
bow. Through its upper portion the smaller circle,
shoS ed the prisnat;c colors distinctly, thungh
SO bright as the points Of intersection; the portion
below The intersection was colored but slightly ant
| sometimes the extreme lower portion would fade
away entirely aud then reform. The atinosp there
was slightly du,ked with yapor, Ito which probabl,
the phenomenon was owlng) but there were cloud
to obsirnct the view. The singularty and beauty
the spectacle rendered il truey graiGin to the be
holder. In continued about hall hour after we
first obserned it, =. f
A very similar phenomenon was seen al New Ha
ven and other places, Sept 9Th. 1874 They are call
ed halos. That Of 9Th September last, was mors
brilliant, and exhibited a greater m,'lica,ion a
circles than The one seen at Saratoga partial ex-
'Olnsted Of Yale College, as follows. ~ b.. w.
I'm recurring to works that give AN account Of so.
lar hall Of past times, il wilfbe that the INA.
jorty Of them correspond. in their general features
TO tins, having circle and eclipse around the
larger circle with its circumference passing III, Dug
the suns center, and other circles niersectinR
this at point directly opposite the sun Thus in
the 9TH and 10Th volumes Of the American Journal o
Science, two holes are figured bearing all these
cl'aracterisllcs. The circles. however, are sone-
times still farther multiplied, and OF dimensions va
rying from the present. il ,,l. .....al
Such uniformity Of structure must depend on
some law, which regulates The formation OF ha'os
but the nature Of this law is not fully developed, nj
though lis investigation has occupied the m,st emil
nent opticians, as Descnrtes, Newton, Huyghens,
eiariotte, Young and Brew ser. The cloud which
forms the basis vi the phenomenon, is always the
same, both in The liar and tine lunar halos Consist
ing OF thin, gauze like. milky vapor, called by me.
teorologstr, GIRO stratus. IL 10 known be very
high, falling within the region Of perpetual coDgea-
tion tile liwer limits Of which, IN Dur latitude, are
about miles above the earth. The moisture de.
posted by these clouds, would be IN the form Of
particles Of ice, and il ID from the particular
reflections caused by the bright faces Of such crys
tails, that these peoena are believed TO be produce
ed. Not much difficulty has been experienced in &C.
counting for the produ lion Of the ring that -ncir-
Giles the su1. sice ITS cause is come what similar
to thai which produces the rainbow; but TO explain
the origin of the ring which has its circumference
in the spn's center. has been found much more diff
cult The reflection. OF the suns light from crystals
Of cylindrical aud prisnatic fo,m, has been sup
posed furnish clue 10 the explanation. although
IL ,ns not always CLEARLY appeared how this would
produce the appearances in question. The following
experiment may perhaps throw some light on the
subject.
Admit beam of the suns light into dark room
through small hole IN The window shutter, letting
the image oil the sun fall ON the floor. or on the oI-
posite wall. Into this beam introduce sglass tube.