THE GREAT BOMBARDMENT. 



507 



of twenty miles per second would develop a temperature not far 

 from 360,000° C, which is probably far less than that at the sur- 

 face of the ordinary meteor as it is seen blazing through our atmos- 

 phere. If the meteor is small it is often consumed by the intense 

 heat generated; but larger fragments, owing to their velocity and 



Ideal View of the Earth as it is Bombarded by the Estimated Four Hundred Mil- 

 lion Meteorites every Twenty-four Hours. 



the fact that they are poor conductors of heat and burn slowly, reach 

 the surface and bury themselves in the sea or earth. But few escape 

 the inevitable consequences of the contact, and of the untold millions 

 which have struck the earth within the memory of man but five 

 hundred and thirty have been seen to fall. The phenomena associ- 

 ated with the plunging meteor is most interesting. A blaze of light, 



