into still smaller balls, till it disappeared. Looking up, they saw the other portion of the meteor just as it disappeared in the distance before them. This phenomenon was attended with no noise or heat, and their clothing exhibited no traces of having been in contact with any foreign substance."* 6. The St. Petersburg Academical Gazette, contains the following account of an extraordinary phenomenon from a letter dated Moscow, May 2, 1832. "In March last, there fell in the fields of the village of Kourianof, thirteen versts from Wolokolamsk, a combustible substance of a yellowish color, at least two inches thick, and covering a superficies of between six and seven hundred square feet. The inhabitants, at first, thought it was snow, but on examination, it appeared to have the properties of cotton, having, on being torn, the same tenacity; but, on being put into a vessel full of water, it assumed the consistence of rosin. On being put to the fire, in its primitive state, it burnt and sent forth a flame like spirits of wine; but in its resinous state, it boiled on the fire, without becoming inflamed, probably because it was mixed with some portion of snow, from which it had been taken. After a more minute examination, the rosin had the color of amber, was elastic like indian rubber, and smelt like prepared oil, mixed with wax.† 7. "Soon after six o'clock in the morning of the 14th November, 1832, (says a letter from Bruneck, in the Tyrol) a broad stream of light suddenly descended from the center of the firmament nearly down to the ground, and was then drawn gradually up again to the middle of the sky, whence, for several seconds, it stretched itself out towards the north in a long train of light, which first appeared in a straight, and then changed into a wavy line; after this, it gathered into a light orb resembling a white cloud, and remained stationary in the center of the firmament for a full quarter of an hour, when it disappeared with the break of day. The appearance was accompanied with so vivid a degree of illumination that the smallest pebble in the road was readily distinguishable, and those who were abroad at the time, were completely panic struck. The sky, instead of being muddy with vapor, as is common at this season, and at this time in the morning, was clear and cloudless, and the air remarkably serene and tranquil. Between five and six o'clock, however, an unusual * E. N. Sill, Esq., of Cuyahoga Falls, (communicated to the writer.) + Annual Register, 1832. number of falling stars were observed in various parts of the heav ens."* The conclusion to be drawn from the foregoing facts is, that the substance of which fiery meteors are constituted is of various kinds, from the dense ferruginous matter of aërolites to that which is flocculent and of the texture of cotton, or to matter so attenuated as to be almost impalpable. The high degree of combustibility, attending some of these substances is to be particularly noted. Meteoric phenomena, more or less resembling the one under review, have occurred at several periods before. The one most like the present, is that described by Humboldt, to which reference has already been made, in the former part of this article (p. 368.) The entire account as given in Humboldt's Personal Narrative, (vol. 3. pp. 331-346,) is worthy of being consulted not only for the interesting facts it contains, but for the opinions of so eminent a meteorologist. We shall have occasion to recur to this author hereafter. In the month of April, 1803, a similar appearance presented itself in the United States, which is thus described in the Richmond (Virginia) Gazette of April 23d. "From one until three in the morning, those starry meteors seemed to fall from every point in the heavens, in such numbers, as to resemble a shower of sky rockets. The inhabitants happened at the same hour, to be called from their houses by the alarm bell, which was rung on account of a fire that broke out in the Armory, but which was speedily extinguished. Every one, therefore had an opportunity of witnessing a scene of nature, entirely novel, in this part of the globe, and which, probably, will never appear again. Several of these shooting meteors were accompanied with a train of fire, that illuminated the sky, for a considerable distance. One, in particular, appeared to fall from the zenith, of the apparent size of a ball eighteen inches in diameter, that lighted the whole hemisphere, for several seconds. A hissing noise, was plainly heard in the air, and several reports resembling the discharge of a pistol. Had not the city bell been ringing, the reports would probably have seemed much louder. The sky was remarkably clear and serene, and several of the largest meteors were observed to descend almost to the ground, before they exploded. Indeed, many of those, which we saw, appeared to approach within a few yards of * Annual Register, 1832. the house tops, and then suddenly to vanish. Those which we particularly remarked, appeared to descend in an angle of sixty degrees with the horizon; but, as the smaller ones were so numerous, and crossed each other in different directions, it was only possible to ascertain with any degree of precision, only the paths of the largest and most brilliant." The same exhibition was seen in the western part of Massachusetts, and probably in the intermediate country, although no records of the observations have reached us. Remarkable exhibitions of shooting stars were seen in several parts of the earth at the corresponding time of the year 1832. On the night of November 19th, of that year, an extraordinary display of this kind occurred in England which is thus noticed in the English papers. At Portsmouth, "the heavens presented a very extraordinary appearance, shortly after midnight. Thousands of meteors were seen continually darting about in all directions, and the whole atmosphere was unusually illuminated. The driver of the night London coach, describes the effect as awful, and says it was with difficulty he could get his horses to face it. The same appearances seem to have been observed in various other places." The York Herald, speaking of the same night, says: "It was fine and moon light, when a series of fiery meteors were observed to flit across the heavens, with the rapidity and continuance of a regular discharge from a battery during a severe bombardment. They issued from the west, and in the first half hour of the phenomenon, twenty five of those balls of fire were counted, shooting along in terrific grandeur, and leaving a train of brilliant white to designate the course of their path. One of these balls had a very curious appearance, and seemed to drive a star before it." In the Salem Register is an extract from the Journal of Capt. Hammond, giving an account of the shooting stars seen at Mocha, in the Red Sea, November 13th, 1832. "From one o'clock A. M. till after day light, there was a very unusual phenomenon in the heavens. It appeared like meteors bursting in every direction. The sky at the time was clear, the stars and moon bright, with streaks of light, and thin white clouds interspersed in the sky. On landing in the morning, I inquired of the Arabs if they had noticed the above; they said they had been observing it most of the night. I asked them if the like had ever appeared before: the oldest of them replied that it had not." The following account of a "shower of fire" is taken from the New England Farmer (Boston) of May 1, 1833, in which work it is quoted from the Medical Gazette. "A singular phenomenon presented itself lately in some parts of France, particularly in the department of Orne, in the neighborhood of Argenton. Several times, and during two whole hours, the atmosphere, which was calm, became filled with an innumerable quantity of vivid sparks, forming a sort of shower of fire. The appearance was most striking between four and five o'clock in the morning. The same phenomenon was witnessed about Caen, where however, it excited less apprehension than at Argenton. It is said that in some places, the sparks was seen to alight upon the ground, but no traces of them have any where been found; and it is probable that the phenomenon really took place in the upper regions, the appearance of having descended being most likely an optical illusion." A few detached facts may be added, which may prove of some importance in relation to the theory of shooting stars. Mr. Brydone, the celebrated traveller, frequently observed shooting stars from the mountain of St. Bernard, one of the high Alps, and also several from the highest region of Mount Etna; and they always appeared as high as when seen from the lowest grounds.* Kirch, a German Astronomer, gives the following account of a fire ball seen at Leipsic in 1686. "On the 9th of July, O. S. at half an hour past one in the morning, a fire ball with a tail was observed in 8 degrees of Aquarius, and 4° north, which appeared immovable for half a quarter of an hour, having a diameter nearly equal to half the moon's diameter.† There are various records of meteors which left luminous trains that remained for some time after the bodies themselves had disappeared. One of the most remarkable of these was seen in England November 13th, 1803. Even Virgil seems to have observed meteors of this kind, and alludes to them as prognostics of a high wind. Sæpe etiam stellas, vento impendente, videbis * Nicholson's Jour. xx. 84. Brydone's Tour in Sicily. + Quoted by Halley, Phil. trans. ab. vi. 110. ‡ Nicholson's Jour. vi. 279 and vii. 66. Phil. trans. 1742 in Dr. Young's Catalogue, p. 499. Foster, Nich. Jour. xxx. 132. Sir Humphry Davy says, that falling stars are regarded in Great Britain as the fore-runner of a westerly wind.* Since the former part of this article was published, we have received accounts of the phenomenon as it was exhibited at Kingston (Jamaica) and in Mexico. At Kingston, the meteors are said to have radiated from the zenith,—an observation which would be of much value, could it be ascertained to have been made with entire accuracy; but we have before adverted to the errors which, from the difficulty of looking directly upwards, common observers are apt to commit in referring objects to the zenith. From the description of the appearances as they were presented at Mexico, we infer that the exhibition had lost none of its magnificence and splendor when it traversed that country. From Professor Thomson, formerly of the University of Nashville, Tenn., and from Henry R. Schoolcraft, Esq. of Michilimackinae, I have received communications, which are valuable, not only on account of the well known competency of the witnesses, but as relating to observations made at points remote from each other. Professor Thomson, remarks as follows: 66 Having been engaged in running the standard lines for the general survey of the Chickasaw Nation in Mississippi, I was at the house of Major Allen, on the night of the falling stars.' Major Allen is the government agent, and resides nearly in the center of the Nation. About an hour before daylight, I was called up to see the falling meteors. It was the most sublime and brilliant sight, I had ever witnessed. The largest of the falling bodies, appeared about the size of Jupiter or Venus, when brightest. Some persons present, affirmed that they heard a hissing noise on the fall of some of the largest. The sky presented the appearance of a shower of stars, which many thought were real stars, and omens of dreadful events. "I noticed the appearance of a radiating point, which I conceived to be the vanishing point of straight lines as seen in perspective. This point appeared to be stationary. The meteors fell towards the earth at an angle of about 75°, with the horizon, moving from the east towards the west. There was not sufficient wind to account for the above inclination in the fall of the meteors. "A surveyor's company, who were encamped in the neighborhood, stated that the fall of stars commenced about 9 o'clock, P. M. and continued all night, but that only a few were seen to fall early in the night. The position of the apparent radiating point, you will readily find on a celestial globe, by noting the latitude of this place, * Encyc. Amer. v. 43. |