Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-09-13
THE NORTHERN LIGHTS.
THEORIES ABOUT THE ca USE.
IssnteaMni TrsdeF'tk >shwatka's Nifws on
the Phsncmcna-' ONE Esanmau Theories
su NAM subjects.
NcN York Times

Like the icebcrgs borne southwark
On the polar currents from the frIgid
zone. which stretch along the uppe'
edge Of the Gulf Stream resembling a
row Of dangerous spectators watching
the vessels Of civilization pass by. SO
tie wonderful northern lights shooting
overhead form oth,- and more accept
able visitors from the arctic regions
which occasionally wander into our
OWE ATTITUDES. How far INTO the TEN
pcrate OF even the torrid zone they ex-
tend | will write presently when the
discussion Of such point IS mtrodncea
bya few simple prcliminarles.
once heard a polar explore say,
with exaggerated emphasis. that there
was = theory regarding the aurora
borealis for every display u had made,
and 70 come down 20 the more sober
realm OF cold facts, 1t ma not be a
very great cxa-geration 20 say that
there Is nearlv one for every expedition
into its hypcrborean home, the more
modest explorers who have advanced
none being compensated Tor By those
which have sprung up in the medltating
minds Of the parl0r polar explorers
at home. A few students have
made careful studies Of aurOrsl dis
PLAYS, seeking rather to obtain more
authentic data from the vast amount OF
confusing statements already written
than 10 building up further coDiectnres
therefrom az 70 what the northern lights
may be; or, more properly speaking,
narrowing down the many theories By
rsdpcfio al obsUTdUHs reasoning,
showing what the aurora Is not. than
advancing others to be heAped upon the
old. sboSing what 1t may be. Promi-
nent among these students are Fritz
Lemstrom AID TromholL
1t is almost impossible to give all the
theories winch have been offered and
tined to grasp the faCis regarding these
fireworks Of the frigid zones. and even
Il known. they would no. be interest
ing matter. on the insane theory
usually called e. Syms's Hole" which
represents the earth as 8 hollow shell,
with two huge be fuze holes " al the
arctic and anarctic poles, was attached
an idiouc annex iof the northern lights,
representing them 10 be caused by
great streams o. light emausting from
these holes. like the glare from an open
furuacc-10or and lighting up the north
en- and southern regions much the
& same way as the open door iiluminates
4 surrounding scenes. OF course there
must be O play Of this light on some
thing 20 be reflected backward to US
and allow us 10 see these 1r0ras. The
Aighes, clouds. the cirrus form. are e.
4 timI,ed 20 De about six M es above US.
and a glare thrown upon them, say II
New York CITY. might be visible, II
e,oryihug was favorable. 10 philadel-
rhia. or even beyond but il would
hardly account for the aurora beng
visible in The latter city. a. il has been.
unless Nyms's Hole is II this State or
south Of The Canadian border. Even
the sun, as 1t sets. requires only about
j. degrees IN which 10 expend its
twilight. but the aurora has been seen
IN Southern Mexico. and giving Syms's
fuze holes the power Of this ium-
nary and the superimposed 81 or -
miles Of an above us for rejecting pur-
poses. and this same mythical hole
would hardly be as far north as Texas.
But 10 drop this waste Of words and
space OIL this idea. not worth even this
superficial reasoning 20 disprove il. We
find many more. which, having clear
idea here and there breaking through
them. have captured more OF less al
herents. Lyon OF Parry | believe II was
who thought a satisfactory explanation
could be found IN the reflection Of the
suns rays from the vast fields @ polar
zee and that this peculiar illumination.
q vast ice-bliuk. If il could he called
such. thrown into the atmosphere pro-
duced ihe lights. Against such
theory is the TACT that when the suns
ravS are pouring into these ice-helds
with their greatest strength, or about
the suns northern solstce, the aurora
j. not necessarily the brightest. even in
The night III lower latitudes. In the
arctic. Of course, u would be dimmed
~ lost il the eyer-shininc summer sun
Of that country. but il should be vIsi-
bic al this season. u this theory was
correct, far enough south TO have the
nights quite dsrk. Another theory
that the reflection Is from the waters OF
the Polar sea also passed long ago
into the list Ct gratuitous guesses.
The reflection theory is not
done for with these illusions 70
terrestrial reieetors, and things have
been sought for high IN tn air IS {
more reasonable way 10 expl2in mat
tiers. such a. electrical clouds, suspend
e. crystals Of ice fi0stlng II the atmO-
sphere. and everything that cau float IN
the air almost. Even the atmosphere
has been passed with Is supposed forty
i've % fifty miles q All. aud Il Is sup
posed that on II rests thick LAYERS OF
lighter gas. hydrogen, or something
AKIN. as the atmosphere rests on the
deuser fluid, water. and that within this
gas probably another fifty miles thick.
occur al the phenomena Of the northern
lights. Not exactly a display like
lightning IL the atmosphere hoy phos-
phoftsoence n the sea. but something
Of al electrical display between them Il
this theoretical strata above us.
Again, some persons have advanced
q theory that the display was not un-
Ike that Of fractional electrical dis
plays, the upper surface Of the stmOs-
phere, whether this be the air We
breathe or q super.uposed layer OF
lighter gas. striking against the sup
posed etherio yspof, o. either, Of space
hy the eErth's motion IN its orbit This
display results electrically from the
friction produced. This idea. Of course.
presupposes that space Is Allied with
5 medium having some density OF
resisting power. however Sttenua,ed-
q theory which does not conflict
with some astronomical ideas on
tie ssns Subjeci IL explaining
certain cofnetAry r,henarDenA A. the