Kirk wood.] ^"*^ I May 2, 



seen iii Washington, is described in tlic following letter from the Professor 

 of Mathematics in Washington and Jefferson College : 



"Washington, Pa., February 1, 1879. 

 "Prof. D. Kirkwood, Dear Sir: — The fact of the appearance of a 

 meteor here some time ago, may be of interest to } r ou I set down the facts 

 as I learned them at the time, and intended to have written you sooner. 

 About 7 P. m., Washington, Pa. time, December 30th, a brilliant meteor 

 was seen here. The account which I have was given me by a young man, 

 Mr. A. M. Gow, Jr., who has given me, I have no doubt, a very fair state- 

 ment of what was to be seen at that time. He was walking eastward on 

 the south side of the street, so thai he was in the shade of the buildings ; 

 the moon shining brightly at the time. Suddenly a light shone about him 

 as if an additional lamp had lieen lighted close behind him. He did not 

 turn immediately to look, but when he did he saw a meteor about the size 

 of the moon as he thought by comparing his impression with the half-full 

 moon immediately afterwards. It was of a slightly greenish color, but just 

 as it disappeared it became reddish. The place in which he saw it, as far 

 as I can judge, was about Alpha Cygni, and the place of its disappearance 

 Avas about Alpha Lyra?. If so, you see its course was W. N. W., and it 

 was observed through 24° of its path. The meteor had been visible a lit- 

 tle lime, however, before Mr. Gow turned to look. It was seen b}' three 

 others here that I know of. Yours Truly, 



"D. J. McAdam." 



Observations at Wooster, Lat. 40° 50' N., Long. 4° 50/ W.— Professor 

 Samuel J. Kirkwood, of Wooster University, had a good view of the me- 

 teor, which he describes as the most brilliant he has ever seen. It was 

 greatly elongated, and the apparent diameter at right angles to its path was 

 half that of the moon. The point of the meteor's first appearance and also 

 the first part of its track were accurately observed through large tree-tops.* 

 Prof. Kirkwood gives the following angles as the result of careful measure- 

 ment with a surveyor's transit : 



"First appearance, east, alt. 50°. Disappearance, S. 13° E. alt. 13 d ." 

 Prof. K. remarks: "The first appearance is, I am satisfied, quite exact, 

 and entirely reliable. I am not so confident of the observation at disap- 

 pearance. The meteor exploded when about S. 33 d E."t 



According to the observations at Wooster and Anderson the meteor be- 

 came visible at a height of 72 miles over a point in Columbiana County, 

 Ohio, Lat. 40° 50', Long. 3° 40' W. The Wooster and Washington obser- 

 vations, seem incompatible; the latter, however, make no claim to strict ac- 

 curacy.. As the exlosion seen at Wooster was not observed either at Wash- 

 ington or Anderson it is probable that at these greater distances the disap- 

 pearance was simultaneous with the separation into fragments. Such 

 doubtless has been the case in several other instances. For example, the 



• A member of the Junior Class In "Wooster University was with Prof. Kirkwood. 

 t Letter from Prof. H. J. Kirkwood. 



