A CATALOGUE OF OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 109 
of the moon. Such differences of impression are likely to arise in a case 
where a sudden phenomenon takes place, under circumstances in which the 
judgement cannot be corrected by even rough measurement, or by subsequent 
examination. It is probable that the tail of this meteor may have been at 
Jeast four or five diameters of the moon, or about 2° or 3° in length. Before 
the meteor disappeared, the head broke up into three or four fragments, 
which continued to follow one another horizontally, and then the whole very 
gradually disappeared. There was no sound heard as of any explosion. It 
would be desirable to obtain accounts of: this meteor as seen in other places, 
and especially in places further north, with a view of determining its caetiis 
ες ἐ 2” 
Account of a remarkable Meteor, seen December 19, 1849. 
: By Professor J. D. ForBEs. 
[From the Proceedings of the Royal Society of. Edinburgh, vol. ii. No. 39.] 
On the evening of the 19th December 1849, whilst walking near the 
southern part of Edinburgh, about fifteen minutes past five, Greenwich time 
(as I afterwards estimated), I observed a meteor, fully brighter than Venus 
at her average brilliancy, moving from W. towards N., parallel to the horizon, 
elevated 15° above it, and followed by a distinct luminous train. This angle 
was subsequently taken by estimation by daylight, with the aid of a theodo- 
lite; and the compass-bearing of the meteor, when first seen, ascertained in 
the same way, must have been 47° W. of N. When it bore 29° E. of mag- 
netic north, it was observed to have divided into two, the one part following 
the other at some distance; and I soon after lost sight of it in the obscurity 
of the smoke of the town. When it split, its altitude was estimated at 6°. It 
thus described an arc of no less than 76°, in doing which it occupied, as I 
roughly estimated, about fifteen seconds, or possibly more. : 
Having sent a short notice of the appearance of the meteor to the Courant 
newspaper, I received from many quarters accounts of its having been seen 
under circumstances remarkably similar to those just described. I believe 
that nearly forty communications on the subject have reached me from places 
included between Longford, in the centre of Ireland, to near Bervie, in Kin- 
cardineshire, a distance of above 300 miles, in a direction nearly N.E. and 
S.W., whilst in a perpendicular direction, or from N.W. to S.E., the range of 
observation has been comparatively small; for I have received no information 
from beyond Renfrew in the one direction, and Durham in the other, being 
about 149 miles distant in a straight line. The meteor was seen at Longford, 
in Ireland, 74 miles west of Dublin, but not in Dublin itself. It was seen at 
Belfast, between Carlisle and Gretna at Stewarton in Ayrshire, at Johnstone, 
at Paisley, Renfrew, and by many persons in Glasgow and the neighbour- 
hood. It was also generally seen in Edinburgh, in Hast Lothian, near Mel- 
rose, and at Durham, as already mentioned. Further north, I have received 
accounts from Crail, St. Andrews, Dundee, Perth, and Johnshaven to the 
north of Montrose. 
The greater number of these communications concur in estimating the 
direction of the motion of the meteor to have been from S.W. to N.E., 
although, as might be expected, they vary excessively as to its distance and 
magnitude; being described by some persons as only 50 or 100 yards off, 
and as large as the moon; by others, as a ball of 9 inches in diameter, or the 
size of a large egg. One person only professes to have heard a sound. The 
time during which it was seen was variously estimated. At Longford, by 
Mr. Curtis, 20 seconds; at Glasgow, by Mr. Stevenson, at 20 seconds; at 
Johnstone, by Mr. Cunningham, 15 seconds; at Perth, 15 or 20 seconds; 
on 
ee oe ee 
ec 
