THE ARCTIC NIGHT.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2607, 17 May 1877, Page 3

THE ARCTIC NIGHT.

There is, perhaps, a, very general misunderstanding that tho Arctic night is night only in name ; th «t a perpetual twilight reigns; that the reflection of the snow illumines distant < bjiv-ts ; that tho moon is always at the full; and that the flashes of the Aurora, the merry dancers of the North, are always brilliant. We are not exaggerating when we say that we have, at one-time or another, heard of each of these propositions, and especially the fragment of a lunar theory, seriously maintained by men who would be generally spoken of as "well informed." It is well, therefore, to say that they are, each and every one of them, misstatements and misconceptions based on absolute error. That in the lower latitudes within tha Arctic Circle the twilight at noon is very perceptible ;: that the moon, when full, shines through the' clear air with great brilliance;, that the Aurora occasionally gleams with splendour and beauty; and that what little light there is is intensified by the white lustre of the snow, are poinis to be readily admitted, but do n®t alter the great law of nature to which Arctic travellers have-to submit. The Arctic night is, practically speaking, as dark as any other night.— Edinburgh Review.