90 REPORT—1850. 
“It contained 22-32 per cent. of sulphur in small erystals, 43°59 of carbon 
and 34°09 of oxide of iron, in which number is included a fraction of a per 
cent. of silica. It did not contain phosphates, sulphurets or earths.” 
Communicated by Dr. R. A. Smith, Manchester. 
(ii.) Observations of Luminous Meteors prior to Aug. 1849. Commu- 
nicated by Dr. Ὁ. P. Thomson. Extracted from his Introduction to 
Meteorology, 1849. 
1837. Sept. 21, 72 48™ p.m.—Cast a shadow; seen at Paris. (p. 305.) 
1841. Dec. 21.—Twice the apparent diameter of moon, and exceedingly 
effulgent ; the tail was variegated, and the body burst in a blaze of light ; 
seen at Glasgow and near to Stirling at the same time. (Ib.) 
1843. Feb. 5, about 8 p.m.—Passed over Notts, resembling a large mass 
of fire of a blood-red colour, and assumed various shapes; its course was 
from N.W.; its apparent height trifling, and its velocity about fifty-five miles 
per minute. (Ib.) 
1846. June 20, about 8. 30™ p.m,—Witnessed at Marieux near Autun, 
Saone et Loire ; it was of a violet colour, and seemed a yard in circumference. 
It continued visible about a minute, and descended perpendicularly to the 
horizon, giving off five other balls, each nearly one-fourth the size of the 
parent mass, which nevertheless preserved its original volume; before disap- 
pearing it burst into sparks, spreading far and wide. (Ib., Evening Mail.) 
1846. Aug. 1, about 10" 30™ p.m.—At Cassel, at an altitude of about 
80°, near to the meridian ; it burst with a sibilant sound, leaving behind a train 
of sparks. (1b.) 
1846. Sept. 15.—A bolis appearing as large as an orange, with a train 
some yards in length, crossed Wrenbury, Cheshire, about 10 p.m. (p. 305). 
The observer was my brother, Mr. William Thomson, surgeon, Wrenbury, 
near Nantwich. 
1847. Oct. 17, at 64 5™ p.m.—A very fine bolis was observed by my friend 
the Rev. Charles Aldis, crossing from $.W. to N.E. at Wrenbury, with a long 
train and a faint whizzing noise; another of very large diameter was seen 
near to midnight on the 23rd of November of the same year, at Birkenhead. 
“ The finest bolis which the author ever witnessed occurred on the 2nd of 
February 1848, about 9 p.m. [near Wrenbury, Cheshire]. The night was 
calm and beautiful,—three hours before he had been testing a reflecting tele- 
scope upon the ring of Saturn [then a difficult object]. Returning from a 
professional visit, his attention was drawn to the south by a sudden and 
brilliant light not far from [the belt of] Orion, It was a fireball slowly de- 
scending at an angle of nearly 20°. Its light was more intense than that of 
Jupiter, which was then shining in great splendour, and it had a decided ap- 
parent diameter. The body of the meteor was coloured grass-green, and it 
was partially bordered with crimson, in a crescentic form in the direction of 
the white and tapering tail. The bolis disappeared without sparks, falling 
seemingly to the ground between the observer and the wood of Combermere 
Abbey, nearly a mile off. Before sunrise the sky was overcast ; the follow- 
ing day was bleak and windy, and rain soon followed.” (p. 806.) 
1848. March 8.—A luminous meteor shot across the clouded sky at Bath 
from the S.W.; the nucleus seemed larger than a cricket-ball, and the tail 
appeared about three-fourths of a yard in length. (Ib. p. 306.) 
Query.—Might not this be the same which was seen by Mr. Symonds near 
to Oxford, at 15 45™ on the 9th ἢ 
1849. Jan. 9.—A bolis crossed the sky at Edinburgh, seemingly one-third 
the moon’s diameter; passed slowly to the south. (MS. Edin. Advertiser.) 
