94 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



" fire balls appear at a height of between 20 and 130 miles and have a 

 " velocity of between 17 and 80 miles per second, averaging 34'4 miles per 

 " second." The earth travels in its orbit 18-3 miles per second. Gravity, 

 from the furthest confines of the sun's power, would only account for 

 half the velocity of the average meteor, so their proper motion may be 

 from 30 to 40 miles per second in some cases, while in others it may be 

 much less. We should therefore expect that the following of the earth 

 Avould be very noticeable — that most diurnal meteorites would fall in the 

 afternoon and most nocturnal ones after midnight. We find the table 

 confirm this reasoning for the day observations, not for the others, but 

 the numbers tabulated are scarcel}- enough to form a fair average, even 

 in the foi-mer case. The table is given to show how much there is yet to 

 do, and the work, which is diflicult at a provincial centre, is easier where 

 works of reference are more accessible. 



Aerolites Falling. 



From midnight to 1 a.m From 11 p.m. to midnight 



''■ 10 " " 



3 " 9 " " 



2 .-' 8 " " 



u >J u u 



5 " 5 " •' 



7 " 4 ' 



7 " 3 ' 



7 u 2 ' 



8 " 1 ' 

 8 " noon 



164 



We may further arrange them thus : 



Falling from jnidnight to 6 a.m 12 



" " 6 a.m. to noon 42 



" " noon to 6 p.m 85 



" " 6 p.m. to midnight 25 



164 

 There is but one case known to the author of a meteorite falling 

 during a display of shooting stars, viz., a stone that fell at Mazapil, 

 Mexico, during a shower of Bielids. This was perhaps a coincidence, 

 and is so considered by Stanislas Meunier, of the Paris Museum d'Histoire 

 Naturelle, in a paper sent to the Scientific Society of Chili, on Chili 

 meteorites. It is of interest to note the analogy between recently observed 

 comets and some aerolites. The comets the writer has observed seem 



