Some persons erroneously think that the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, may be attributed to the same gases, burning in the upper regions of the air.
Q. How are these gases ignited on bogs and meadows?
A. By the electricity of the air, the rays of the sun, some accidental spark, the lamp of some traveller, or in some similar way.
And sometimes from the spontaneous combustion of some dung-heaps, &c. in the locality.
Q. Why does an ignis fatuus or Will o’the Wisp fly from us when we run to meet it?
A. When we run towards an ignis fatuus, we produce a current of air, which drives the light gas forwards.
Q. Why does an ignis fatuus run after us, when we flee from it in fright?
A. When we run away from the ignis fatuus, we produce a current in the way we run, which attracts the light inflammable gas in the same course.
Q. Is not a kind of Jack o’Lantern sometimes produced by an insect?
A. Yes; a swarm of luminous insects sometimes passes over a meadow, and produces an appearance exactly like that of the ignis fatuus.