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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



fORRESPONDENCE 



^ ^^ Information 



% 



AND 



An Observation of a Meteor. 



Bowen, Illinois. 

 T< i the Editor: 



1 will try to write you a description of 

 a meteor that 1 saw pass over Hancock 

 County, Illinois, on the night of May 14, 

 1905, at 11.30 p. m., as I was walking 

 through the fields. There was no moon. 

 Suddenly the country became as bright 

 as at noonday. On looking up to learn 

 the cause, I saw a bright meteor coming 

 from the southwest and crossing the sky 

 to the northeast. Its light was so bril- 

 liant that I could see objects half a mile 

 away and more. It moved very swiftly 

 with a loud hissing sound, and left be- 

 hind it a train of deep blue fire. The 

 meteor itself was deep blue. It seemed 

 to be as large as the full moon, and to 

 span the arch of the heavens. When it 



passed the zenith and was about two- 

 thirds down the eastern horizon it seem- 

 ed to pause for a moment. Then I 

 heard an explosion that made the earth 

 and sky tremble as the meteor burst into 

 fragments. The whole sky seemed to 

 vibrate for several seconds. It was a 

 beautiful sight, and one that tilled me 

 with wonder and admiration. 



Oliver Shanks. 



The Split Rock and Curious Willow. 



Stamford, Conn. 

 To the Editor: 



I was very much interested in that 

 story (in your November number) 

 about a split rock. 



The story reminded me of a picture 

 I once took of a split rock or, to be 

 more exact, a split boulder, so I hunted 



THE SPLIT liOULDER XEAR WILTOX. 



