210 J»>f9mJ or THE METEOH SEEIf I» C0NN*:C1EHJU,% 



"; ipg, the fourteenth of Decc^mber, 1807, about day-^ig^t ; 

 ** and perceiving the sky suddenly illuminated, I raised my 

 •« eyes, and beheld a meteor of a circular form, in the 

 ** southwesterly part of the heavens, rapidly descending to. 

 " the sooth, leaving behind it a vivid sparklingHrain of 

 ** light. The atmosphere near the south part of the horizon 

 '* was very hazy, but the passage of the meteor behind the 

 ** clouds was visible, until it descended below the moun- 

 ** tains, about twenty miles south of this place. There were 

 " white fleecy clouds scattered about the sky, but none so 

 *' dense as to obscure the tract of the meteor, I n<Av la-* 

 *,* ment that I did not make more particular observations at 

 ** the time, and I should probably until this day have con- 

 *• sidered it to be what is commonly called a *faUivg star,* 

 ** had I not read in the New York pnpera an account of the 

 t* explosion of a meteor, and the falling of some meteoric 

 ^f stones near New Haven, Connecticut, which, by recur- 

 ** ing to circumstances, then fresh in my recollection, I 

 ** found to be on" the same morning that I observed the 

 ** ineteor at Rutland, I am indebted to my learned friend, 

 " Dr. Samuel Williams, for his aid and direction* in ascer- 

 ** tainingthe situation of the meteor, when 1 hrst observed 

 *:? it^and.its course, and also for the order of my observa- 

 *^Mo^ff, Form, circular. iJfcpiifwc^e, less than a quarter ' 

 ** of the diameter of the moon. Co/owr, red vivid light, 

 '* Taiit or train of light, about eight times thfe length oi its 

 " diameter at the least, projected opposite to its course. 

 ** Azimuth when first observed, about 9' 30' west of the 

 ** meridian. Altitude vihen first observed, abput 18° 30'*. 

 ** Descent to the south part of the horizon, west of the nie- 

 *< ridian, by estimation 7 or 8 degrees. Motion, very rapid, 

 •* probably thirty seconds in sight. Place of observation, 

 ** Rutland, county of Rutland, and btate of Vermont, la. 

 ** fitude 43" 36' N, as ascertained by Dr. AViliiams; longi- 

 *♦ ti-;e west from Greenwich [72" 58' 15'] as ascertained by 

 ** Mr. Bowditch, by calculations made upon observation 

 •• of' the solar eclipse of June I6, I8O6,'* In a letter, 

 Tihich accompanied the preceding paper, Mr. Page ob- 



•la making use of this allUud<*,'S* for refr»cUon t^a« Siibtraci«d^ 



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servifd, 



