Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1883-11-24

Mr. Serene Bishop who furnished the
Press with an interesting article on the ate,
glow some time since has done the publi, the
favor to hand in lot publication the following
extract from correspondent of London
Nature
My attention was first called 10 the matter
by one vi my teachers about four O'Clock ON
the afternoon ut September 10th hut | learn
that the same thing was noticed elsewhere the
day before. AT tho tim. of which speak I
noticed that the BE-, nom the sun, shining into
the room through an open western door, threw
E - curious pale blew color ON the floor | also
noticed that Il had sbmething OF the effect upon
eulors TINT IS commonly seen IN cnloted lights
On looking out saw that the sun. which was
somewhat dimmed by a haze, had decidedly
grernish blue tinee. The same thing was ob.
served on the nth and i2ih, both morning
and evening! but my observations were con
fined TO the evenings About four o'clock Cat
least did no, notice It carlictl an indistinct
blush tingc appeared in the light. This
gradually passed into a grecnish color, and
this in turn became tinged with yellow. as the
sun approached the horizon. As the sun sank.
bands OF smoke haze dfified across It's disk
Ailer the sun was down, br CHIT yellow orange.
and red appeared in the west, a very deep rcd
remaining lot more than an hour after sunset:
whereas, under ordinary conditions, all traces
OF color leave the sky in this latitude within
hali an hour after the sun disappears
NJ night the moon, just past the hrst quarter,
was surrounded by pale grccnish halo some
thirty degrees in breadth. After sunset | oh.
served peculiar appearance in the haze which
covered the sky. II was not Of sufficient den.
sl,y TO be at all visible, except where it re.
feeted the direct rays of the sun. There il
had singular notified appearance. with
smoky look along the borders Of the dcnser
portions, suggesting clouds OF smoke or dus,
IN the upper regions of the atmosphere.
vi course the question which every one is
asking now is, 'What caused the green lipht2'
The succession of colors which | have men.
toned, occurring exactly in the order OF the
solar spectrum, would seem TO indicate beyond
doubt the presence Of some highly rcfractinr
substance IN the atmosphere, which resolved
the suns rays into primary colors and gave us
IN succession, according to the angle OF the
sun To the horizon, blue, green, yellow. ORANGE
and rcd, the two latter only appearing as re.
heeted from the under surface OF the haze. ON
the evening OF the 9Th. the sun Appeared to
be perfectly clear, but after it was below the
horizon the western sky was seen TO be GOV.
cred with smoky haze of a singular appear.
ance, which became brilliantly Illuminated with
yellow, ofange, and red in the order | have
mentioned, counting upward from the horizon
Ihtse sank one after the other leaving at las,
an arc OF brilliant red along the west the inner
portion o! the segment contained by The arc
being composed Of orange. This disappeared
in turn and the whole western sky became
yellow again without any distinct outlines, and
tins gradually deepened into red. which re.
manned Tor an hour or more after sunset. The
rI t.Haa IL
sunset, except in brightness and duration.
But what could the refractinp medium be
he air itself has refracting power, and so have
the minute particles OF moisture or ice which
constitute the ordinary hay clouds in the
upper regions OF the atmosphere but il would
be diihcult 10 say why the effects which | have
described should not be OF more frequent oc
currence II produced by either OF both of these
causes, since they are always present in
greater or less degree, and especially as there
was apparently nothing unusual in the state of
the weather at the time. Neither would
clouds OF smoke alone produce such effects as
have mentioned In my native place in the
United States. where vast tracts of prairie, and
oten oil woodland, are burned over every
autumn, smoky haze is a common thing a,
that season Of the year Sometimes for two
days together the haze is so dense as to almos,
hide the sun, yet never heard OF any other
effect upon the light than this obscurity of il.
while the sunsets were especially duh and
coloriess. Nor do see how these phenomena
could be referred to as unusual electrical con.
diions, Tor IN that case they should be more
common, as electrical storms are by no means
unusual have been led, therefore. To won.
der II the phenomenon may not be the result of
some hne transparent or semi.transparent dus,
particles IN the upper regions OF the atmos.
phere, which form the singular looking haze,
and reiraet the light in the manner have DIES.
enbed, and whether the whole may no, be
,raeeable to the recent volcanic erup,ions in
Java.
According TO the kilograms, the city of
Batavia was darkened for thirty.six hours by
clouds OF dust fiom the volcano True. we
are long distance from Java here Ongaie
being IN latitude Is 40 North, and longitude
80 o East. But il is well known thai the
smoke and ashes from volcanoes are often
carried TO immense distances, and in this case.
II acted upon by the trade winds, they would
be carried away TO the westward, and rising
with the upward currents might enter The
return trades, and so be swept over Southern
india IN a north casterly direction direc
ton OF our prevailing winds AT this season Of
the year However, only venture this solu |
ton OF the problem as a timid conjecture, the
truth OF lalsiiy Of which have no means OF
demonstrating.