THE GREAT BOMBARDMENT. 



S l 7 



It is difficult to comprehend the vastness of these clusters of me- 

 teors which constitute the wreck of comets and the source of the 

 principal bombardments. Thus the August stream, which gives us 

 the brilliant displays of summer nights, is supposed to be ten million 

 miles in thickness, as the earth dashing through at a rate of two 



The November Shower of Meteors at Sea from Sandt Hook. 



million miles a day is several days in passing it. We cross the Novem- 

 ber stream of meteors in a few hours, suggesting a width of forty 

 thousand or fifty thousand miles. This stream of metallic bodies is 

 hundreds of millions of miles in length, and contains myriads of pro- 

 jectiles which may yet be hurled upon the earth or some of the planets 

 of the solar system. 



