296 Supposed Co7i7iection of Meieoric Phenomena, 



extremities of the earth. Such a supposition might account 

 for the velocity and force of attraction of these bodies ; and 

 would receive encouraorement from what is known of magnetic 

 curves surrounding the earth, and from the researches of 

 M. de Bylandt. (VIL 83—88.) 



In all probability, the great meteor which Krusenstern 

 {Reise um die Welt) saw, in Oct. 1803, in lat. 37° 40' N. and 

 long. 14?° 5' E., was of similar character. It took the shape 

 of a fireball ; and left a luminous belt in the heavens for an 

 hour, a quarter of a degree wide through its whole track ; 

 it was 15° high. {Q, R., vi. S62.) On April 26. of that 

 year, a fall of aerolites took place at L'Aigle, in Norman- 

 dy* ; and the celebrated hurricane at Lucknow occurred on 

 May 31. On May 21. 1834, a large meteor, leaving a train, 

 and exploding, passed over Hanley, in Worcestershire, at IJ 

 A.M., in a clear sky, in the direction of the wind, viz., n.e. 

 It travelled with great velocity, and was very high. ( Wolver- 

 hampton Chronicle.) On May 18., a tremendous hail storm, 

 covering eight miles by three, occurred in Tyrone : not melted 

 till next day. On the 25th, a heavy gale from n.e. did great 

 damage at Dublin. During March and April earthquakes 

 have been universal. 



Captain Parry has stated that, on Dec. 14. 1824, he saw 

 several very bright meteors, between 5 and 6 o'clock, p. M., 

 " at which time the wind freshened from the N. w. by w., in 

 a very remarkable manner.f On this occasion," he says, " as 

 on the 12th of December, there appeared to be an evident 

 connexion between the occurrence of the meteors and the 

 changes of the weather at the time." {Third Voyage, p. QQ.) 

 This is exactly confirmed by the following extract from Silli- 

 man's Journal (p. 402.), where the writer says, " It is hardly 

 possible to persuade ourselves that two concurrent pheno- 

 mena, both as remarkable as the change of weather and the 

 falling stars, were independent of each other ; but it may prove 

 a difficult point to decide what was the nature of their con- 

 nexion : whether, as some have hinted, in observations already 

 before the public, the meteors were occasioned by the change 



* The analysis of these aerolites, as given by Vauquelin and Fourcroy, 

 is as follows (Phil. Magi, xvi. 302.): — Silica, 54; oxide of iron, 36; 

 magnesia, 9 ; oxide of nickel, 3 ; sulphur, 2 ; lime 1 : in all, 105. 



•f Captain Parry is borne out in this by what is related in the Acta 

 Litteraria Suecice, 1734, p. 78. ; and by Chladni, in the Gothaisches Magazin, 

 xi. 712.; and by Forster, who observed that a violent wind succeeded 

 each fireball which he saw. And Sir W. Hamilton observed that the 

 smoke from Vesuvius, in the year 1764, was uniformly increased at the 

 time of " bad weather." (P.T., 1767.) The same freshening of the wind 

 attended and increased the aurora on September 25. 1827. 



