222 



Its size at first seemed to be about one-third less than the apparent 

 diameter of the moon ; and I could have supposed it to be in our 

 own atmosphere." 



From the apparent size of the meteor, and its perfectly round 

 form as seen by me, contrasted with its much greater magnitude as 

 estimated at first by Mr Wallace, — its train, — its separation into 

 fragments, — and its final round form as described by him, coupled 

 with the fact that he saw it for some time before nie, — I conclude that 

 I had only seen the meteor in the last of the phases which he de- 

 scribes. It seemed to me to have a very striking resemblance to the 

 shooting stars so frequently visible by night. It was not, indeed, 

 so luminous as such objects usually appear to be, but that was not 

 to be expected in the presence of the sun ; and, I have no doubt, had 

 it been seen by night, it would have proved a very brilliant object 

 indeed. 



I may add, that the meteor was not accompanied by any sound, 

 and that its path was sensibly rectilinear. 



As I hoped to obtain accounts of the meteor as seen from other 

 stations, I deemed it desirable to ascertain, as far as was practicable, 

 the positions of the points in the heavens where its most remarkable 

 phases occurred. In the absence of stars, which by night afford 

 such convenient points of reference, I endeavoured, with Mr Wal- 

 lace's assistance, to estimate the altitudes and azimuths of the prin- 

 cipal points in the path of the meteor ; and as soon as I could com- 

 mand time I returned to the spot, in company with Mr Wallace ; 

 and by means of a prismatic compass determined the azimuths of 

 these points, while their zenith distances were measured by means 

 of a quadrant, which, although rude, was sufficiently accurate for 

 my purpose. The true azimuths were deduced fiom those which 

 were observed, by subtracting the variation of the compass, which 

 was found to be 25° 20' W. The variation was determined from 

 the azimuth of the sun, observed by the compass ; the latitude and 

 longitude of the station deduced from data kindly furnished by Cap- 

 tain Henry James, R.E. ; and the time given by a pocket chrono- 

 meter, carried in its box, and compared with the Edinburgh time- 

 ball. 



The following are the positions of the most remarkable points in 

 the meteor's path : — 



