A CATALOGUE OF OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 131 
to be proceeding from south to north, and appeared to explode about 60° 
above the horizon. It broke into a multitude of bright red fragments, which 
vanished from sight shortly after the explosion. About five minutes after 
this a report was heard like that of a heavy piece or ordnance fired at a di- 
stance, and we have no doubt that this was the sound of the bursting meteor, 
the fragments of which may yet be found. We hope our friends at Hydra- 
bad and Sukkur will inform us whether it was seen by any of them. There 
were no stars visible in the direction of its path at the time when it was first 
seen, and no immediate means therefore of comparing it with any celestial 
object; so brilliant was it that it filled the room with light. The following 
is a list of the meteors for 1849, with the particulars of whose appearance 
we have been favoured :—24th February, Madras; 19th March, the great 
meteor seen off the sea-coast of Goozerat, at Bombay, Khandalla, Poona, 
Ahmednugegur, Mundlaisir, Malligaum, Asserghur, Jaulnah, &c.; 23rd 
March, Bombay and Khandalla; 4th April, Delhi; LOth April, Ahmednoug- 
gur, one large and two small meteors; 13th April, Bombay, Poona, and 
Hingolee; 30th April, Poona; 2nd May, Bombay; 6th May, Kurrachee; 
25th June, Kurrachee. The meteors of the 19th March and 25th June are 
the only two that were heard to explode; there is every reason to believe 
that the former of these was burnt to ashes and fell to the ground in the 
shape of dust. The atmosphere all over the Saugor and Nerbudda territo- 
ries was throughout the last week of March so filled with fine dust that the 
sun could be looked at, especially at near noon, with the naked eye. 
A most brilliant meteor appeared about half-past nine o'clock on the night - 
of the 25th instant. We did not ourselves see it, having been within doors, 
but the light thrown out was plainly perceptible for some five or six seconds, 
About fifty or sixty seconds after its disappearance, a report like that of a 
distant heavy gun was distinctly heard.—Kurrachee Advertiser, June 27. 
No. 38.—The following interesting remarks on periodic meteors are ex- 
tracted from Prof. Silliman’s Journal, vol. xxxi. p. 386 :— 
For six years in succession there has been observed, on or about the 13th 
of November of each year, a remarkable exhibition of shooting stars, which 
has received the name of the “ Meteoric Shower.” 
In 1831 the phenomenon was observed in the State of Ohio*, and in the 
Mediterranean, off the coast of Spain}. In 1832 the shower appeared in a 
more imposing form, and was seen at Mocha, in Arabia{, in the middle of 
the Atlantic Ocean§, near Orenburg, in Russia||, and at Pernambuco, in 
South America]. The magnificent meteoric shower cf 1833 is too well 
known to require the recital of any particulars. Of the recurrence of the 
phznomenon at the corresponding period in 1834 and in 1835, evidence has 
been presented to the public in previous numbers of this journal. (See vols. 
xxvii. pp. 339 and 417; xxix. 168.) I now feel authorized to assert, that 
meteoric showers reappeared on the morning of the 13th November 1836. 
It has been supposed by some, that the appearance of an extraordinary 
number of shooting-stars, at several anniversaries since the great phenome- 
non of November 1833, can be accounted for by the fact, that a general 
expectation of such an event has been excited, and that many persons have 
been on the watch for it. Having, however, been much in the habit of ob- 
serving phenomena of this kind, I can truly say, that those exhibitions of 
‘shooting-stars which have for several years occurred on the 13th or 14th of 
* Amer. Journal of Science, vol. xxviii. p. 419. + Bibliotheque Universelle, Sept. 1835. 
+ Amer. Journ. xxvi. p. 136. § Edin. New Phil. Journ. July 1836. 
Π Amer. Journ. xxvi. p. 349. 4 New York, America, Nov. 15, 1836. 
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