A CATALOGUE OF OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 183 
1833. Dec. 11.—At 10" p.m., I saw a very beautiful meteor. It com- 
menced somewhere near / and y Urse Minoris, probably above and to the 
right of them, as a small shooting star, taking a left-hand direction, with an 
inclination of about 45° to the horizon. During a course of 8° or 10° it had 
increased gradually toasplendid globe, perhaps three times the size and bril- 
liancy of Jupiter, and of alovely colour, not easily described, probably nearest 
toa greenish blue. The remainder of its course was intercepted from my view 
by a building ; but from the great illumination of the sky, I imagine its splen- 
dour still continued to increase. Its velocity was that of an ordinary falling 
star: it did not appear to leave any train. Frequent, though faint, flashes of 
lightning were seen in the E. horizon between 6” and 7" p.M., and a very strong 
one had been perceived on the preceding evening. The wind was N.W. with 
slight but very cold showers, indicating snow upon the mountains, which pro- 
bably existed there at the time, and the next day was seen in considerable 
quantity. (South Herefordshire.) 
1834. July 4.—A very beautiful meteor was seen at Tretire (South Here- 
fordshire) at about 9" 15™ p.m. When first noticed it was probably about 55° 
(or perhaps 60°) above the E.S.E. horizon, in the form of a very brilliant body 
of yellow or pale orange light, not apparently exactly circular, but a little irre- 
gular or angular in its outline. This appearance I think may have arisen from 
the preceding part being more brilliant than the rest, but my surprise at its 
sudden outbreaking, and the smallness of its diameter, which probably did not 
exceed 5', prevent me from speaking with certainty. It descended with a very 
slow motion, vertically, for about 15°, and then broke into three balls, and be- 
came extinct: the lowermost ball was by far the largest and brightest, the 
other two were much smaller, one of them almost a point. They all became 
of a dull red before their disappearance, which took place when they were 
several minutes apart, one beneath the other, in a vertical line. This change 
of colour before extinction I have several times remarked, and it always gives 
me the idea of an entrance into a medium incapable of supporting combustion. 
The appearance of the present meteor was decidedly that of a ponderable 
body, probably fluid, in a state of ignition, perhaps fusion, actually, not ap- 
parently, descending, and upon disruption coalescing by the force of gravity 
into smaller globules, of which the heaviest preceded the rest. At any rate 
it had no resemblance to any electrical phenomenon which I ever witnessed. 
No report could be perceived ; there was, however, a considerable noise of 
wind, and of the mill; at the time I am almost certain that the largest ball 
preserved its original brilliant colour longer than the others. I should esti- 
mate its splendour, before division, at 6 or 8 times greater than the maximum 
of Venus: such estimates, however, are apt to be very uncertain. The twi- 
light was so strong, that a Aquilz, which was a little below and to the left 
of the place of its disappearance, had not long been visible with the naked 
eye. Had it been in a dark winter’s night the effect would have been surprising 
and magnificent. This meteor was also seen by young Mr. P. , then in the 
neighbourhood of Newport, Monmouthshire: he described it as having a tail, 
which very probably was at its first appearance, which I did not see. He says 
it was as large, or larger at first than at last; its disappearance was out of 
sight behind trees, but he thought it had fallen in the garden just at hand. 
Mr. P. informs me that two or three years ago, very early in the morning, 
there was so brilliant a meteor as to terrify such of his men as were out; the 
blaze seemed to surround them; and they might have picked a pin from the 
ground. (South Herefordshire.) 
1834. Sept. 29.—About 7" 15™ p.m., the twilight having already become 
very dusky, as I was walking along a lane among trees, I was startled by 

