238 REPORT—1852. 
No. 14.—Letter from Dr. Buist to Prof. Baden Powell, Oxford. 
“ Bombay, July 24, 1852. 
** Dear Sir,—I have done myself the pleasure of forwarding from time to 
time to your address copies of the ‘ Bombay Times,’ containing notices of 
meteors seen on the coast of India in the course of the year. I regret to say 
that the list is a poor one; whether it be the want of reapers or the barren- 
ness of the celestial field which has prevented more information being gathered, 
I shall not take upon myself to determine. I have been about as much out 
in the open air as usual, that is, I have driven home from office six miles every 
evening after dark, and so am likely to observe var unusual in the skies : 
this season I have absolutely seen nothing. 
“ One of the most extraordinary circumstances hitherto observed, is the 
length of time through which they are occasionally visible in one spot, when 
they must either be approaching or retiring from the earth in a line with the 
observer's eye. Another adverted to by Olmsted is the almost equally sur- 
prising train of light they occasionally leave behind them ; the most extraor- 
dinary case of which is that described in a recent number of the Journal of 
the Bengal Asiatic Society, by Professor Middleton. ‘I was awakened,’ 
says he, ‘ at four o’clock on the morning of the 4th of Sept., 1844, by my friend 
Mr. Williams, Head Master of the College, who remarked to me that some- 
thing remarkable had occurred towards the north, when a truly beautiful 
object presented itself, namely a delicate white arch of light, extending from 
about four degrees from the horizon on the west, to about seven on the east, 
its crown rising up to near the Pole star. It looked as if an even and rigid 
rod coated with phosphorus had been made to arch the sky in the manner 
described. It was seen under very favourable circumstances, also in so far 
as no trace of cloud was anywhere visible, the sky being at the time of that 
peculiar depth and transparency which is to be witnessed here during a break 
in the rains. The account which he gave of its first appearance was this :— 
a servant rushed into the house in great fright, declaring that the sky had split. 
He first saw he said an immense ball of fire pass from east to west, which left 
behind it the rent which had terrified him so much. During the time which I 
was able to observe the arch, about twenty minutes, it increased in curvature 
near the crown, which besides moved slowly through about two degrees to- 
wards the east. The dawn was now setting in, and the arch diminishing in 
absolute brightness, though still as well-defined as at first, and before it had 
ceased to be distinguishable it had shortened by several degrees, rushing away 
from the ends upwards.’ 
“JT sent to you last year an account of a meteor seen here on the 6th of 
November, 1850, a few minutes before seven o'clock. When first seen it was 
about 60° above the horizon, and was rushing towards the south. It tra- 
versed an arc of about 40°, when it exploded without noise, descending in a 
number of brilliant fragments towards the earth. It left a long stream of 
brilliant white light behind it, ten or twelve degrees in length, resembling the 
tail of a comet, and which was visible for full twenty minutes. Seen through a 
telescope it bore exactly the appearance of a comet, the nucleus, even after 
the explosion, and when nothing was visible to the naked eye, but the light 
appearing like a star of the second magnitude, surrounded by luminous va- 
pour or cloud. Captain Shortrede describes a meteor seen by him from Churla 
on April 11, 1842; it was from ten to twenty degrees in length, equally bright 
throughout, except at the upper’end, where it was rather faint. It continued 
of the same appearance and at the same place for two or three minutes, when 
it became fainter and fainter and then vanished. There are numberless 
instances in which similar things have been visible, but for shorter periods of 
time. I called your attention last year to the extraordinary shower of me- 

