40 



AN ACCOUNT OF AN EXTRAORDINARY METEOR, 

 Seen at Malvern, November 13, 1835, 



BY W. ADDISON, ESQ., F. L. S. 

 Communicated to the Royal Society by Dr. Maton. 



On my return from Malvern Wells, at half-past one in the 

 morning of Tuesday the 13th of November, my attention wag 

 arrested by a sudden burst of vivid light in the heavens. The 

 moon was at the time shining brilliantly, and the line of light, 

 (which was a little above and between that luminary and the two 

 principal stars in Gemini,) continued three or four seconds, and 

 then gradually melted away into a thin nebulous appearance which 

 bent and contorted itself very curiously. The weather the whole 

 of the preceding day had been extremely foggy j but, as is some- 

 times the case at Malvern, those houses situated highest upon the 

 declivity of the Hill, were quite above the dense vapour which was 

 spread out like a vast sea below, undulating to and fro, sometimes 

 reaching and shrouding higher portions of the Hill, and then sub- 

 siding, leaving them quite clear. The vapour was in this condition 

 when the light excited my notice. In descending the Hill I became 

 enveloped in fog j the moon then became partially obscured, and 

 the stars quite invisible. I shortly afterwards observed a slight 

 flash of light, and a post-boy whom I met with, stated, that he had 

 seen lightning through the fog several times, and once in particular, 

 about two hours previous, the sky, to use his own expression, 

 ** opened and shut — but not like common lightning." This infor- 

 mation induced me to continue my observations, and I soon 

 perceived, through the mist, a very large meteor shoot across, 

 leaving a long line of light behind. I resolved to mount the Hill, 

 in order to get clear of the fog, and endeavour to ascertain from 

 what cause these lights proceeded. Having ascended a considera- 

 ble distance, and emerged from the dense vapour below, I found 

 the moon and stars shining most brilliantly — the atmosphere per- 

 fectly calm — and the hoar-frost coating the ground. Continuing 

 my ascent towards the summit, I beheld one of the most extraor- 

 dinary and beautiful spectacles that was ever witnessed — a constant 

 succession of meteors of various degrees of magnitude and 

 brilliancy. The smaller meteors were like what are vulgarly 

 termed shooting stars, leaving behind them a train of pale light j 

 those of a larger description were much more brilliant, and, 

 notwithstanding the brightness of the moon, they threw a strong 

 glare upon everything around. The latter always commenced 

 from a small luminous point, rapidly increasing in size and 

 brilliancy, shooting with great swiftness across a considerable 



