the Meteor of February 11, 1850. 257 



XXXVII. Deddington. Miss Faulkner's second com- 

 munication. 



" It is with mixed pleasure and hesitation I comply with 

 your request concerning the altitude and azimuth of the me- 

 teor. My surprise was so great at its first appearance, that 

 I am unable to give so correct an account as I could wish, as 

 I did not mark its path till now, and have therefore done it 

 from recollection ; had I noticed it directly after I saw it, I 

 should feel more sure that it would be correct, but I think 

 from the position of the buildings it may be depended on, 



" The place on which I stood was unfavourable for seeing 

 its close, a high wall being on the eastern side of me; but 1 

 think, from the time it kept in my sight, that the explosion 

 of the meteor must have taken place immediately after it dis- 

 appeared from view. 



" The noise of the report was very like that produced by 

 the rolling of barrels along the pavement; this idea occurred 

 to several others, who described it to me in a similar manner, 

 particularly at Worton, three miles west of Deddington, where 

 the clergyman of that place informed me it shook his house. 



" A person who happened to be on Edge Hill, said that the 

 light emitted was so strong, that it enabled him to see the 

 sheep in the fields most distinctly for a great distance round. 



" The azimuth of the meteor on its first appearance was 

 68° W. of N., and when I lost sight of it was 82° E. of N.*" 



XXXVIII. Bedford. Through the kindness of S. C. 

 Whitbread, Esq., Henry John Dodwell, Esq., sent me the fol- 

 lowing : — 



"With regard to the elevation of the meteor of Feb. 11, 

 I should think its altitude was 60° when I first saw it. I 

 have taken the bearings of the road accurately by compass, 

 and find that the meteor passed from N.N.W. to S.S.Ef. I 



* At my request Miss Faulkner had the distances measured from her eye 

 (as she stood when she saw the meteor) to the parts of the walls over 

 which she saw it appear and disappear, and the heights at the top 

 of the walls above these parts. These distances are, from her eye to the 

 western wall, 25"5 feet, and to the eastern wall 6 feet ; the height of the 

 top of the former wall above this horizontal line was 13*75 feet, and of 

 the latter was 3'65 feet- Hence the altitude of the top of the wall, over 

 which point she first saw the meteor, was 28° 20', and therefore the height 

 of the meteor when first seen must have exceeded fifty miles considerably. 

 The altitude of the point on the wall behind which the meteor descended 

 was 31° 19'; hence the height of the meteor at this time was less than 

 thirty miles. 



t The variation of the compass at Bedford is 22° 52' ; hence the azimuth 

 of meteor when first seen was 45^° W. of N., and when last seen was 45^® 

 E. of S. At the time of sending this to press, I have not received any 

 answer to my request, to have accurate measures taken. 



