prevalent Disorders, $c., with Volcanic Emanations. 141 



difference of time between the hour of observation here ftnd 

 midnight, gives 6h. 47 m. 28 s., the interval which elapsed 

 between the first appearance of the meteors in England and 

 America. If, then, these meteors betoken the presence of a 

 cometic body, it moves ivestwardly ; and the position of Pro- 

 fessor Olmsted is untenable. This is a fatal argument for the 

 hypothesis; and we are driven to conclude, that the idea of 

 the meteors being altogether electrical, arising from a certain 

 state of the atmosphere, in certain years, at a certain period 

 of the year, is sufficient to explain their occurrence. The 

 subsequent agitations of the atmosphere, in 1834, as well as 

 in 1833, the gales that occurred, and the volcanic pheno- 

 mena that preceded, all lead to the same conclusion. Till, 

 therefore, these difficulties shall have been reconciled, I shall 

 adhere to my own supposition. 



How well my own observations respecting the effects of 

 meteoric phenomena on the changes of the weather are borne 

 out by other writers (Mr. Conway, Mr. Gardiner, and Mr. 

 White), may be seen in the last Number of this Magazine. 

 (VIII. 92 — 99.) The last gentleman's account of the 

 meteors very curiously balances mine in all points ; and his 

 deductions are also similar. He corroborates the fact of the 

 appearance of the meteors being earlier in England than in 

 America, and that they were electrical. From all enquiries I 

 have made on the subject of meteors and the aurora, those 

 phenomena seem to occur, in general, very near the earth, 

 comparatively speaking ; and, for some examples perfectly 

 illustrative of this fact, we may consult Sir John Franklin's 

 Second Voyage. I see in this an additional argument for 

 rejecting the notion of a foreign cause for either, and for 

 indulging the belief that from the earth do all the electrical 

 agents or effects originally proceed. The Society of Natural 

 History of Frankfort on the Maine undertook to watch the 

 sky between the 10th and 15th of November, 1834, for the 

 purpose of ascertaining whether the meteors of November 

 would return. Whether they were seen there I do not 

 know, as the Frankfort papers contain no information as to 

 the result of the Society's vigils ; and I have not yet had an 

 answer to my private enquiries. 



These meteors were, I believe, seen at sea ; for Capt. Sulli- 

 van saw a very brilliant meteor, about the same time, traversing 

 an arc of 40° to 45°, when about 700 miles from Falmouth ; 

 the same, perhaps, observed by a gentleman in Purbeck, who 

 described it as having a long train. On the 12th and 13th 

 there were heavy gales in the St. Lawrence, with snow ; 

 though the channel to Quebec was unencumbered with ice. 



