397 



thought it had been a rocket, but that it flew straight on, 

 instead of going upwards. 



" It was daylight, and by no means a dark evening. I 

 heard no hissing or any other noise, nor was there any report 

 or explosion audible when the meteor disappeared. 



" The wind at the time was nearly due west, just opposite 

 to the course of the meteor's progress." 



Sir William Betham exhibited a rough sketch of the me- 

 teor. 



George Alexander Hamilton, Esq., M.P., communicated 

 the following note respecting the appearance of the meteor : 



About ten minutes before 5 o'clock, p. m., on Friday, the 

 2nd, as Mrs. Hamilton was walking near Baibriggan, she ob- 

 served a very brilliant meteor to the south, or S. S. E., at an 

 angle of about 75° from the horizon. Its brightness was 

 almost dazzling. The colour was nearly that of gas-light. 

 It was then round, the size of an immense star, the outline 

 very clearly defined. Instantaneously it increased in size, 

 and changed into the form of a common paper kite. It 

 then moved slowly, describing an arch, towards the west. 

 As it began to descend, the pointed part threw off small balls, 

 decreasing in size. These balls, constituting a kind of tail, 

 separated from the globe almost immediately, and became 

 extinguished. The globe continued the same size as it ad- 

 vanced along the arch, until it suddenly disappeared at some 

 distance above the horizon. 



Some country people at Ballygarth, between this place 

 and Drogheda, state that they saw an extraordinary ball of 

 fire, which appeared to fall to the ground. 



Robert Mallet, Esq., read the following paper on the ap- 

 pearance of the meteor, and the method adopted by him to 

 estimate its altitude and velocity : 



*' On Friday evening last, the 2nd of November, 1849, while 



