122 On Man's Influence in effecting 



exceptions, held their course in a direction which corre- 

 sponded generally with the motion of the earth in its orbit, 

 only that the motion of most of them was from east to west ; 

 some deviated a little to the north and south, but only two 

 had a purely north or south direction. 



The number of falling stars observed during these five 

 hours and a half, was not, indeed, considerable ; but when it 

 is recollected that the sky, during that time, was only par- 

 tially clear, and that even the bright spots were occasionally 

 obscured by passing clouds, it will be admitted that the num- 

 ber of falling stars observed is probably only half what it 

 would have been, had the sky been cloudless. Besides, the 

 observations were limited to the period above mentioned, as 

 the sky was again, at half past five in the morning, covered 

 with clouds, and no further observations could be made. It 

 is evident, then, from these circumstances, that the night be- 

 tween the 13th and 14th of November, ought to be numbered 

 among the remarkable meteoric nights ; and it now remains 

 for us to await the accounts of other, and perhaps more fa- 

 voured, observers. 



In consequence of the resolution come to by several Ger- 

 man astronomers, at a meeting of natural philosophers, held 

 at Prague, watch was kept at Gratz, for the falling stars ex- 

 pected to appear on the nights from the 27th to the 30th of 

 November. The sky, however, proved unfavourable, being 

 thickly covered with clouds during the whole of the three 

 nights. Nevertheless, early in the morning of the last-named 

 day, a very strong north-west wind dispersed the clouds, and 

 a brightening up of the north-west part of the sky ensued. — 

 No falling star, however, was seen ; but at five o'clock in the 

 morning, a clearly defined redness was observed, which last- 

 ed forty-five minutes, increasing and decreasing at regular in- 

 tervals, and which the reporter is inclined to think was the 

 last trace of a disappearing aurora borealis. 



Gratz, December, 1837. 



Art. III. On the influence of Man in modifying the Zoological 

 Features of the Globe ; with statistical accounts respecting a few 

 of the more important species. By W. Weissenborn, D. Ph. 

 ( Continued from p. 70 J. 



If I have at all succeeded in interesting the reader by the 

 aphoristical view I have taken of my subject, or the arrange- 

 ment I have given to materials, which, for the greater part, 

 cannot claim the merit of novelty, I hope I may be permitted 



