108 REPORT—1850. 
is estimated from the position of the meteor with reference to the star in the 
tail of Ursa Major, the meteor appearing to have half the altitude of those 
stars.’ 
“Tts size was estimated by Mr. Carrington as twice that of Mars, as now 
seen in opposition, both in magnitude and brightness. Another person con- 
sidered it to be six times larger than Jupiter. 
“Its motion was parallel to the horizon from N.W. by W. to about N.E.: 
its progress was quite steady and uniform, continuing for twenty or thirty 
seconds of time. 
“ The bright head was followed by a tail, the length of which is estimated 
variously. Mr. Carrington considers it to have been 20! or 25': the other 
observers estimate it at from 6 to 10 diameters of the moon, or from 99 to 5°. 
Before the meteor disappeared, its head broke up into three or four fragments, 
which followed one another horizontally till the whole gradually disappeared. 
No sound was noticed after the disappearance of the meteor. 
“1 have written to several parts of Great Britain and Ireland, with a view 
of comparing observations of the meteor made elsewhere; but I have not 
heard of its being seen anywhere but at Edinburgh. 
“ΒΥ a letter dated January 8th, from M. Piazzi Smyth, I find that it was 
seen at Edinburgh by Mr. James Stirling, C.E., who perceived it pass acress 
the opening of a street, and has since measured the altitude of the part of the 
house where the body disappeared. He found it about 8° 20’, and is quite 
sure it could not have been 9°. 
«* Professor Forbes and Professor Kelland also saw it; and Prof. Forbes 
published an account of it in the ‘Edinburgh Courant’ of December 20. 
«The altitudes of the meteor, as seen at Durham and Edinburgh, are 
sufficiently consistent on the supposition that the meteor had but very small 
parallax; and Mr. P. Smyth informs me that the same conclusion follows 
from several accounts which Prof. Forbes has collected from various parts of 
the country. 
‘« As you are the centre to which all information of this kind converges, 
you will probably have already received intelligence of this meteor. 
«« About a quarter of an hour before its appearance (that is about 5 P.M.) 
a bright falling star passed downwards vertically near the Pleiades. 
‘* Believe me, yours very truly, 
« Prof. B. Powell. * TEMPLE CHEVALLIER. 
« P.S.—Since writing this, I have found a copy of the printed account, 
which I enclose. 
«« Brilliant Meteor seen at Durham, 1849.—In the evening of Decem- 
ber 19, at 5" 15™ mean Greenwich time, an unusually bright meteor was 
seen at Durham, in the northern part of the sky. By a comparison of 
three different accounts, it appears that the meteor was first observed in 
the north-west by west quarter, and moved slowly in a horizontal direc- 
tion from west to east, disappearing nearly north by east, thus moving 
through 65° in about half a minute. Its altitude, obtained by referring 
the meteor to the tail stars of the Great Bear, was about 10°, half the 
altitude of those stars. The head was estimated by one observer, accustomed 
to notice the heavens, to be twice the brightness and twice the apparent size 
of Mars, as now seen in opposition ; and by another observer to be four times 
as large and bright as Jupiter. The meteor had a tail nearly straight, which 
became sensibly longer as the meteor advanced. The length οὔ the tail was 
estimated by one of the observers to be less than the diameter of the moon, 
about 20! or 25’: another estimated it at six, and another at ten diameters 
