612 Supposed Connection of Meteoric Phenomena^ 



northern quarters were as dark as usual ; that four of the 

 meteors formed their train into a cloud, and floated away to 

 the castway^d, as if borne hy m7ids; that the most striking phe- 

 nomenon is, " the observed Jixedness of the point of radiation in 

 a particular part of the constellation Leo, He confesses, how- 

 ever, that there are difficulties respecting this ; and I confess 

 that I am not quite satisfied with the above conclusion. 



He states another fact, viz., that the " radiant " (the point 

 whence the meteors seemed to radiate) " had a location ma- 

 nifestly independent of meridians and verticals, and not confined 

 to geodesic lines^ He remarks, also, that there was " 7iot 

 only a progressive increase of northern decliriation in southern 

 latitudes, but the differences of declination, compared mtk 

 the differences of latitude, were strikingly correspondent," 

 amounting to about 1° 54' of north declination for 1° of 

 north latitude : and to account for this, when there was no 

 parallax in right ascension, as the effect of parallax, he con- 

 siders untenable. He adds, that there was neither parallax nor 

 parallactic motion ; that the radiant point was " everywhere 

 stationary, or nearly so : " but the evidence certainly goes to 

 establish the fact, that the radiant was not stationary till about 

 3 or 4 A.M., it having a motion from w. to e. (or a little south 

 of east); and that this motion, at first rapid, gradually de- 

 creased. He says, also, there was, iXiith the exception of 

 particular accidental coincidences^ no tendency to follow the 

 magnetic dip. 



The conclusions come to by Mr. Twining are similar to 

 those of Professor Olmsted. [385 — 390.] Other particulars 

 are given, which are very interesting. One meteor is described 

 as " if a column of glowing melted metal had been poured 

 down from the spot whence the meteor issued ; another had 

 a brilliancy " above the brightness of the sun ; " and several 

 traversed arcs of 20° and 30°, vanishing in clouds as big as, 

 and even five times as big as, the moon. The result as to the 

 height of these meteors is, that " they entered the atmosphere 

 nsoith a velocity not less, but perhaps greater, than fourteen miles 

 in a second; that they became luminous above eighty [miles'] 

 from the earth; and became extinct nearly thirty miles from it." 

 Mr. Twining is obliged, however, to confess, from an examin- 

 ation of the facts, " that the atmosphere itsef must have its 

 limit much higher than is generally supposed; " and suggests, 

 whether it cannot be ascertained by the means of the upper 

 extremity of " shooting stars," which certainly seem to bear a 

 close affinity to the meteors of Nov. 13., what is the height of 

 the atmosphere. (This tallies with my remark in p. 387.) 



The above gives, pretty accurately, the principal features 

 of Mr. Twining's " investigation ; " although compelled, by 



