240 THE METEOR. 



5. A Catalogue of the Philomathsean Society. 



6. The first and last numl)er.s of the Literary Record and Journal. 



7. A copy of the Order of Exercises of the day. 



THE METEOR OF JULY 13tH, 1846. 



It appears, from various accounts received from abroad, that the ex- 

 traordinarily large and brilliant meteor, which apparQ^tly passed over 

 our town on Monday the 13th ult., was seen over a wide district of 

 territory. It was observed in places very distant from each other, not 

 only in the direction of its motion, which we would expect as a matter 

 of course, but also at right angles to that direction, which was not ex- 

 pected by those who saw it; each observer having been persuaded that 

 it was near the earth, and that it passed nearly over his zenith. It was 

 Been at points west of Gettysburg, and at numerous places east of it as 

 far as the seaboard. 



At Gettysburg, it seemed to burst upon the view at a point a little 

 West of South and an elevation estimated at about 30°, to pase about 

 25° East of the zenith, and to be extinguished at a little East of North 

 and an elevation of about 30^ or 35*^. It is very much to be regretted 

 that no observations were made, by those who saw it, to determine these 

 items with accuracy. It appears, however, that the meteor passed east 

 of the zenith of each of the places from which we have heard, and at 

 an angular distance from it not diflbring much from that observed at this 

 place. From these facts several conclusions may be derived : 



1. Tliat, contrary to the first impression, the meteor must have had 

 a very great altitude : for a body, whose zenith distance, over a line of 

 country of one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles, at the same in- 

 stant of time, did not vary more than a few degrees, must have had an 

 altitude of at least several hundred miles. 



2. As our atmospliere extends only to the height of about forty-five 

 miles, the meteor was far beyond its limits, and the noise, which some 

 tliought they heard, was an illusion produced, no doubt, by the surprise 

 of its sudden appearance and its great brilliancy. 



3. Its apparent magnitude, taken in connection with its great height, 

 proves it to have been a body of enormous size. 



4. Its great height is fatal to all those theories which assign to me- 

 teors an atmospjieric origin, and its intense brilliancy at that height 

 proves that their liglit, at least in some cases, is inherent. That those 

 which find tlieir way into our atmosphere become intensely luminous, 

 in virtue of the condensation of the air before them in their rapid flight, 

 seems reasonable ; but here we have at least one whose light 8ic. are in- 

 dependent of such agency, 



5. It is probable that none of the innumerable multitude of meteors 

 belong to our atmosphere, but, being so many independent bodies, of 

 cosmic origin, or having the same origin as the earth and planets, and 

 revolving in their own appropriate orbits, some of them are, by the 

 earth's attraction, brought into our atmosphere, where they explode and 

 fall to the surface. 



