An Account of a Shoiver of Meteoric Stones. 233 



The meteor which has so recently excited alarm "in many, 

 and astonishment in all, first made its appearance in Wes^ 

 ton, about a quarter or half past six o'clock, A. M., on 

 Monday the 1 4th instant (Dec. 1807). The morning was 

 somewhat cloudy ; the clouds were dispersed in unequal 

 masses, being in some places thick and opaque, in others 

 light, fleecy, and partially transparent ; while spots of un- 

 clouded sky appeared here and there among them. Along 

 the northern part of the horizon, a space of 10 or 13 de- 

 grees was perfectly clear. The day had merely dawned, and 

 there was little or no light, except from the moon, which 

 was just setting. Judge Wheeler, to whose intelligence and 

 observation, apparently uninfluenced by fear or imagination, 

 we are indebted for the substance of this part of our account, 

 was passing through the enclosure adjoining his house, 

 with lu§ face to the north, and his eyes on the ground, 

 when a sudden flash, occasioned by the transition of a lu* 

 minous body across the northern margin of clear sky, illu- 

 minated every object, and caused him to look up. He im- 

 mediately discovered a globe of fire, just then passing be- 

 hind the first cloud, which was very dark, and obscured, 

 although it did not entirely hide the meteor. 



In this situation its appearance was distinct, and well 

 defined, like that of the sun seen through a mist. Jt rose 

 from the north, and proceeded in a direction nearly per- 

 pendicular to the horizon, but inclining, by a very small 

 angle, to the west, and deviating a little from the plane of a 

 great circle, but in pretty large curves, sometimes on one 

 side of the plane, and sometimes on the other, but never 

 making an angle with it of more than 4 or 5 degrees. It 

 appeared about one half or two thirds the diameter of the 

 full moon. This description of its apparent magnitude is 

 vague, but it was impossible to ascertain what angle it sub- 

 tended. Its progress was not so rapid as that of common 

 meteors and shooting stars. When it passed behind the 

 thinner clouds, it appeared brighter than before : and when 

 it passed the spots of clear sky it flashed with a vivid light, 

 * yet not so intense as the lightning in a thunder- storm, "but 

 6 ' rather 



