Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1859-09-05

N. de Ia Rive, the celebrated French astron.
mer, explains the production of the aurora bore
alis in the following manner
When the sun, having passed INTO the south.
ern hemisphere, the 5queous vapors which have
accumulated during the summer in this part of
the atmosphere begin TO condense, the kind of
humid cap enyeloping the polar regions ex-
tends more and more, and facilitates the passage
Of the electricity accumulated in the upper
portions of the air But in those elevated re-
gions, and especially at this season of the year,
tue aqueous vapors must frequently pass into
the state of minute particles of ice or snow
floating in the air, similar 10 those which give
rise to the halos they form, as it were, a kind
of semi transparent mist. These half frozen
fogs conduct The electricity to the surface of
the earth, near the pole, and are at the same
time illuminated by these currents or electric
discharges. In fact all observers agree in asser-
ting that aurora borealis is constantly preceded
by mist, which rises from the pole and the
margins of which, less dense than the remain
der are colored the first and indeed it is very
near the pole in the wint MONTHS and espes
cially in those where there is an abundance of
vapor in the air.
Mr.. Merriam, the Brooklyn meteor-wise, has
pronounced his opinion of the Boreal lights
He says ''the Aurora( electricity discharged from
the craters of volcanos) either dissolves in the
atmosphere, and is thus diffused through space,
or concentrated into gelatinous substance form.
ing Reteors, called shooting stars. These me
teors dissolve rapidly in atmospheric air, but
sometimes reach the earth before dissolying,
and resemble thin starch" Merriam is easi.
ly humbugged if not humbug, for he claims to
have a bit of the Aurora in his possession,
which so resembles silk that he styles it the
silkery of the skies"
The auroral display at Boston after midnight
on the ID, was so brilliant that ordinary print
could be,,read, and considerably impeded the wor-
!; =, Of the telegraph up to noon of the 2d. At
times the current from east to west was so reg
ular that messages could be sent over the lines
without the usual batteries being applied
The operators in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia
transmitted auroral messages to each other, and
at intervals kept up lively chat by the same
medium, the galyanic batteries being cut off
and the instruments worked exclusively by
means of the auroral electricity. 1t was exact
ly similar in its effects, though differing in
kind, to that generated in telegraphic batteries
or what is known as common atmospheric elec
tricity. The Pittsburgh Chronicle says;
This, it is believed, is the first and only in
stance on record, where the Aurora itself--beau-
tiful, glorious and mysterious as it has always
been considered in its brilliant manifestations
has actually been harnessed up and been com
pelleI to do the errands of man. And thus it
is that science is ever achieving fresh and i'm.
portant triumphs over nature and those phe-
nomena, which in former times. when the laws,
general and particular, that govern our earth,
were comparatively unknown, were but objects
of dread, or of drelul omen, are now noted
with interest, recorded with precision, and utill-
zed and employed so as to render glory to God,
and do the bidding of man. |...