But it is especially in the
polar regions, where the eternal ice that reigns there constantly
condenses the aqueous vapors under the form of haze, that this
recomposition must be brought about; the more so, as the positive
vapors are carried thither and accumulated by the tropical current,
which, setting out from the equatorial regions, where it occupies the
most elevated regions of the atmosphere, descends as it advances
towards the higher latitudes, until it comes in contact with the earth
in the neighborhood of the poles. It is there, then, chiefly, that the
equilibrium between the positive electricity of the vapors and the
negative electricity of the earth must be accomplished by means of a
discharge, which, when of sufficient intensity, will be accompanied
with light, if, as is almost always the case near the poles, and
sometimes in the higher parts of the atmosphere, it take place among
those extremely small icy particles which constitute the hazes and the
very elevated clouds.
There can be no doubt that the occurrence of the phenomenon is
materially dependent on the presence in the atmosphere of these
particles of ice, forming a kind of thin haze, which, becoming luminous
by the transmission of electricity, must appear simply as an
illuminated surface of greater or less extent, and more or less cut up.
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