A CATALOGUE OF OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 141 
Direction or Altitude. General remarks. Place. Observer. Reference. 
et _— ——$—_——. ——— — | —_———- —_—_ —— 
Yearly perpendic. down, incli-|Aurora Borealis ...|Beeston E. J. Lowe ......|Ibid. 
ning to W., and passing 
through Polaris. 
Downwards from S. of Saturn..|..ecsccsssessseeeseenes Id. Tbid. 
from # Urse Majoris to 10°)........sseecsscseseeees Highfield House./Capt. A. S. H./Ibid. 
_ below the nebula in Andro- Lowe. 
_mede. 
nm N.E. near horizon Beeston Mrs. E. J. Lowe.|Ibid. 
fell from the S.E. towards the/Sky clear, after|Broomfield F. Wakefield, Esq.|Ibid. 
much thunder and} House, near 
rain. Ashford, Wick- 
low. 
100n on the other.—On Aug. 13th, a ball as smooth and round as a billiard-ball, and larger than a 
ho found it concluded it was a thunderbolt.—E. J. Lowe. 
ance during twilight. It descended perpendicularly. The light which 
heralded the fire-ball was at first not unlike the streak of brilliant sparks 
that precedes the bursting of a sky-rocket. The fire-ball likewise originated 
apparently very much as the fire-balls of a sky-rocket originate, from some 
explosive and combustible agency. But the light after the discharge of the 
fire-ball became gradually whiter, and persons who looked at it through a 
telescope saw shining in its centre what appeared like a star. The shape of 
the streak or band of light was not unlike the blade of a huge faming sword 
suspended in the heavens with the flat surface towards the north. ‘That its 
substance was remarkably dense and firm is evident, since its shape was un- 
altered and its edges were sharply defined for more than five minutes. In 
fact, so stable did it appear in the heavens, that numbers of people were 
overcome with wonder and dismay, and shed tears. After a time it became 
more cloud-like and tenuous; its edges gave out, and its straight and perpen- 
dicular direction became less firm. At one time its colour was not unlike 
the very white steam forced from a boiler, and it assumed a serpentine form. 
Before it vanished, however, it was cloud-like in its appearance and move- 
ments. A few stars were visible in the heavens when the meteor appeared.” 
A paragraph in the Brighton Examiner shows that the remarkable meteor 
above described was visible in that town :— 
* About five o’clock on Monday evening a very brilliant and extraordinary 
meteor was observed by several of the inhabitants over the sea in a south- 
easterly direction. The ball, apparently of fire, was exceedingly splendid, 
| leaving a brilliant ribbon, as it were, behind it, as bright as molten silver. 
; It fell nearly perpendicularly, the ribbon assuming a spiral form, till it finally 
vanished, in about ten minutes after its first appearance. The sky at the 
time was beautifully clear and cloudless. When first seen it was considerably 
more than 45 degrees in height, and extended 10 or 12 degrees.” 
Another Account.—‘A very beautiful meteoric phenomenon was ob- 
served in the S.S.W. part of the heavens this evening just after five o'clock. 
My attention was first arrested by the appearance of a very brilliant light 
darting suddenly towards the earth, apparently proceeding from a star, which, 
I think, is the planet Jupiter, at present an evening star, taking an easterly 
direction. . My first impression was that an immense sky-rocket had been 
discharged into the air, but instead of the train of fire proceeding upwards, 
it rapidly descended towards the earth, or rather the Channel, for it must 
_ have been several miles from land; and as it extended in length, lost some. 
