The adequacy of this supposed cause seems plain, when we remember what a mighty convulsion of nature occurred at Java. Earthquake and eruptions followed one another with such force that they were felt for hundreds of miles distant. Large islands sunk from sight and new land appeared and the entire conformation of the Archipelago in that locality was changed. The great volumes of mud thrown out of the volcano Krakatoa fell in showers for over three hours in localities more than thirty miles away. With volcanic forces at work on this mighty scale, millions of tons of earth must have been hurled into the upper air. Of this the coarse and heavy material would naturally fall at once, but vast clouds of impalpable dust would be borne upward by the heated air, until they reached the region of the upper trade-winds, by which they would be borne westward in the circuit of the globe. Each evening these immense dust clouds would give a novel brilliancy to the skies, by reflecting the light of the setting sun, and during the day an unusual hazy appearance of the sky would probably be perceived. This hypothesis of Mr. Lockyer was remarkably borne out by facts that actually occurred. The Java eruptions occurred August 26 and 27. On August 28, from the islands in the Indian Sea, near the African coast, Mauritias, Rodriguez, and the Seychelles, very singular sunsets and sunrises were observed, though not directly resembling those seen later, and a strange haze appeared, through which the sun seemed to be white and dim as the moon. On August 31, in the same latitude as these islands, in North Brazil, remarkable sunlight effects were observed, the sun appearing of a deep blue tint; the next evening similar appearances were seen in Venezuela. On September 1, also, a remarkable sunset was reported visible from the Gulf Coast, and one from Trinidad, Spain, at the same date. September 5, another was seen near Honolulu, in the Pacific ocean. This line of strange sunsets ran directly east and west. Another line ran from southeast to northwest, beginning with Ceylon and Madras and ending with England. Following this, the phenomena seemed to spread themselves over the whole portion of the earth’s surface, appearing at various points during four whole months. The points of difference between the earlier and later appearances were closely defined by Mr. Lockyer. At first the coarse particles suspended in the air obscured the sun’s light entirely, as was the case in the neighborhood of Java immediately following the earthquake. These disappearing, the sun seemed white and dim; the dust being still more thinned out, the blue and red molecules caused the appearance of a blue sun, and at last there was just enough of the finest dust left suspended to be carried by the various wind currents hither and thither and produce at the time of the setting of the sun, those singular reflected lights, which, at first almost unnoticed, became, when observed, the wonder of the world.