EECEEATIVE SCIENCE. 



133 



of time. Its point of disappearance was 

 r below Arcturus. On its re-appearance it 

 had become less in size, apparently moving 

 directly away from us. Figs. 10 and 11 are 



Ml/ 



^l\^ 



Fio. 10. 



Fm. 11. 

 other instances of disappearing and reap- 

 pearing again ; the former seen at Shardlow, 

 by Mr. W. H. Leeson, on August 15th, 1850 

 (9h. 35m. p.m.) ; the latter at Nottingham, 

 by the late Mr. F. E. Swann, on the 14th of 

 October, 1855 (8h. 27m. p.m.) 



A remarkable meteor, A, Fig. 12, was seen 

 by myself at Highfield House, on November 

 5th, 1849 (6h. 20m. p.m.) It left a thin 

 pencil of red light in the sky throughout the 

 whole length of its path (which was 50" in 

 length). This pencil of light was visible five 

 minutes, remaining as a straight line for 

 two minutes and a half, and then changing 

 to a wavy line, b, and in another minute 



B 



AAAAAAAA 







Fig. 12. 



widening, as m c. The line was only as 

 thick as a star of the first magnitude when 

 first seen ; but at last, from the apex of one 

 wave to that of the opposite one, it was larger 

 than the apparent diameter of the sun. It 

 commenced disappearing from each end, the 

 middle portion remaining visible the longest. 

 Mr. Glaisher considers it to have been ver- 

 tical over a spot fifteen miles N.E. of Mont- 



gomery, and its distance from the earth 

 about eighty miles. 



The meteor of 1851, July 4th (llh. 16m. 

 p.m.), seen by myself at Highfield House 

 (Fig. 13), was about twice the size of Jupiter, 



00 o 



°oVoV^ 



Fig. 13. 



red in colour and circular in form, and was 

 accompanied by a number of blue balls, which 

 kept vanishing rapidly. It moved slowly, 

 and remained visible for three seconds. 



The meteor of 1851, December 1st (8h. 

 23m. 45s. p.m.), also seen at the Beeston 

 Observatory, was twice the apparent size of 

 Saturn, moved slowly, and was visible four 

 seconds. It appeared first as a spark, then 



^^^jx'/ 



m 



Fig. 14. 



Kf;j'i> 



as a small number of sparks, increasing as it 

 progressed to a great number (Fig. 14). 



Fig. 15 is an instance of Aurora borealis 

 changing the direction of a meteor. It was 

 seen by the Eev. J. Slatter, from Eose Hill, 

 Oxford, on the 20th of April, 1852 (llh. 25m. 

 p.m.) On several occasions, meteors have 

 been seen to increase in brilliancy on passing 

 through Aurora borealis. 



! 



Fig. 15. 



o 



Fig. 10. 



Fig. 16 is an instance of an assemblage of 

 separate bodies besoming larger and brighter, 

 and disappearing at the maximum brightness. 



