ACCOUNT OF THE METEOR SEEN IN CONNECTICUT. 209 



** brighter-ihaii before; and when it passed the spots of 

 " clear sky, it fliished with a vivid light, yet i^ot so intense 

 *^ as the lightning of a thunder-storm. Where it was not 

 «*' too much obscured by thick clouds, a waving conical 

 ** train of paler light was seen to attend it, in lenj^th about 

 **• 10 or 12 diameters of the body. In the clear sky a brisk 

 ** scintillation was observed about the body of the meteor, 

 " like that of a burning fire-brand carried against the 

 •* wind. It disappeared about 15 degrees short of the ze- 

 *• r.ith, and about the same number of degrees west of the 

 "meridian. It did not vanish instantaneously, but grew, 

 ** pretty rapidly, fainter and fainter, as a red-hot cannon 

 ** ball would do, if cooling in the dark, only with much 

 *' more rapidity. — The whole period between its first ap- 

 •* pearance and total extinction was estimated at about 30 

 " seconds. About 30 or 40 seconds after this, three loud 

 •* and distinct reports, like those of a four-pounder near 

 " at hand, were heard. Then followed a rapid succession , 

 ** of reports less loud — so as to produce a continued 

 " rumbling. This noise continued about as long as the 

 " body was in rising, and died away apparently in the di- 

 ** rection from which the meteor came." — Mr. Staples 

 observed, "that when the meteor disappeared, there were 

 •* apparently three successive efforts or leaps of the fire 

 ** ball, which grew more dim at every throe, and disap- 

 ** peared with the last. From the various accounts which 

 ** we have received oi'the appearance of the body at differ- 

 l ** ent places, we are inclined to believe, that the time be- 

 ^ ** tween the disappearance and report, as estimated by 

 *' Judge Wheeler, is too little, and that a minute is the 

 " least time that could have intervened." The latitude of 

 Weston is about 41° 15' N, longitude 73° 27' W from 

 Greenwich, but there is a little uncertainty in both these 

 quantities, though not enough to affect |UiaterialIy the re- 

 •ult of the calculation. 

 jj' The observations made at Rutland were procured by the Appearance of 

 kind offices of Professor Hall, of Middlebury College, Ver- R^iJ^^r' *' 

 mont, to whom Mr. Page communicated his vsiluable ob- 

 servations in a paper, expressed in the following terms. 

 <* I was at the west door of my house on Monday morn- 

 Vol. XXVUL— March, 18U. P " inj. 



