lthough people here generally appear to think
that it will not prove so. The election of members for our lower
house will soon terminate. Judging from the results already known,
we are likely to have a curious Parliament this time. Our winter is
nearly over. Last night there was a festival held in honour of
Alexander von Humboldt. It was unfortunately a very wet evening,
which prevented a great many from attending who would otherwise
have been there. I hope you are all in good health. It would have
pleased you much to have seen the two splendid auroras, of which I
have sent Charley a description. At one time it was light enough to
read a newspaper out of doors, after the moon went down. I must now
say adieu. With much love to all,

Believe me, my dear mother,

Your affectionate son,

WILLIAM J. WILLS.

. . .

Melbourne, September 15th, 1859.

MY DEAR CHARLEY,

I send you by this mail two accounts of auroras, which we have
had the pleasure of observing here, one on the 28th ultimo, and the
other on the 2nd instant. I would recommend you to take care of
these papers, as you may find it very interesting to refer to them
at some future period. You will perhaps be so good as to let me
know by return of post whether anything of the kind was observed in
England about the same time; and be careful to state the dates and
hours, etc., as exactly as possible. You will find much, in the
reports I have sent you, to object to, in the manner of expression
and the words used; but you must make due allowance for their
having been written by a German (Professor Neumayer). I have
corrected some of the most prominent errors in the second. I wish
you would look out for every description of auroras that may appear
in the newspapers, as well as for the phenomena themselves. You
might always cut out the paragraphs, and put them in a letter; and
in the event of your seeing one yourself, you might write a
description, being particular to note the time of the different
phases as nearly as you can. By just taking this small amount of
trouble you will be rendering a much greater service to the science
of magnetism than you imagine; for one of the most important points
is to establish or prove the existence of a simultaneity in the
Northern and Southern Lights.

If you have yet obtained those books that I told you some time ago
to get, you will find some elementary information on the subject in
them, particularly in Lardner's Museum of