144 Mr. Farej/, on Shooting-Stars^ Meteors, S(c. [Sept. 1 , 



flatiiig it at B o'clock, as Jupiter is fcldom 

 vilibie in the c-vouiiig till lialf an hour 

 after fun-fet, and on that evening the fun 

 went down about 8*' 1'. The meteor 

 was fcen, in its defcent by Mr. Stebbnif; 

 of Ipl'wich, who at liill took it for alarf;e 

 alarm rocket, but before its extinction 

 knew it to be a meteor: he coniideia the 

 time of its appearance to have been 

 about a iiuartci- before 9. 



There w<is noexplohoii or noifc on the 

 difappcarance of the meteor, nor did it 

 icavc any luminous tract. In tracing ith 

 apparent velocity I have, by tliree lepiu- 

 rite obfcrvations, by three diirereiit flop 

 watches, made it uniformly IJo" : this is 

 fo nmch a larger portion ot time than is 

 allisiied to it ijy Mr. Parcy's obfcrvation, 

 that I can fcarccly believe niyielf correct 

 ill this particular, and feel inclined to 

 admit the poffibiiity that tiic extremely 

 flow movement, which I remarked at the 

 iiiftant, mi(^ht have left an exa^i^crated 

 imprcHion on my mind : in tlie courfc I 

 cannot be much miliaken, beinj; able 

 precifely to alcertain my liation and va- 

 rious objeAs over wliich the meteor 

 pafled. 



In the hope that thefe obfcrvations may 

 he tliouj;ht worthy of a place in your 

 fcicntiiic Mifcellany, I remain. Sir, 



Your obedient humble fervaiit. 



Cliff, Ipj'akh, Eliz. CoBlJOLD. 



4ui}uji 12, 180C. 



J'or tlie Monthli/ Magazine. 

 On sjiooTiNG-STARs, METEOUs, and ME- 



TF.ORIC STOXKS, wit/l CAL.ClLATrONS 



tnid REMAKKS relative to the MEVEOtt 

 vf'l/ie 17111 (>/'jur.Y lujl. 



DURING a late excurfion which I 

 was makins in the county of Suf- 

 ex, I faw your lad iMns;a7,iiie, and read 

 at the end thereof tlie evtratts and 

 abridgments made from my letter to ynu 

 of the 24th July on the above fubic(''ts, 

 wiitlen before J left town, aiul as foon as 

 circundlances would permit ; but, from 

 the length of it, and its very late date in 

 the month, I had i'carccly any experta- 

 tion of feeing it prmtcd entire. On my 

 return home I found my letter reliuned 

 fts I had rcquelied, and now comply with 

 tile nonce given to your readers at 

 page lOJ, in eonnetling the parts not 

 alretidy extracted and printed, and add- 

 ing fuel) otliir obfervatjaiis as have ari- 

 fen lince the date of Uiat letter, as fol- 

 lows. 



At different times, about the year 



1800, I liad converfations vvith a verjr 

 able and fcienti'ic CoiTefjioinJent of 

 yours, (Mr. Benjamin Bevan, of Leighton 

 Buzzard, Bedf adihire,) refpe^'-ling flioot- 

 ing-ltars, nielcors, and incleoric (lones, 

 and on Proft ir.)r Chladni's ideas of 

 thoni, (Phil. Mag., I. i.,) from which 

 we faw much reafon to imagine that 

 thefe three clalVes of piienomena are 

 connected, and proceed from an im- 

 menf'j numlier i>\' futclUltdu, or fnuiU 

 fatellites, wliich, like the Moon, except 

 as to fize and difcmce, may be fup- 

 pofed to be performing their revolutions, 

 in elliptical orbits, with moderate cxccn- 

 tricity, round our earlh; and arc rendered 

 luminous, or at'iually inflamed, by pall- 

 ing with inmienfe rapidity through the 

 oxigenous parts of our atmofplicre ; and, 

 in c»)nfequence, we inllituted a feries of 

 experiments at our refpe6live houfes, 

 which were about fix miles difiant from 

 each other, with tlic view of inveiligatinff 

 the circumftances of ihooting-ftars : ana 

 for this |iurpofe, fixed on a certain part 

 of the heavens in wiiicli to look out fot 

 thefe, during a certain period every even- 

 t's- 



On comparing our obfenations, we 



were foon able to identify feveral flioot- 

 ing flats, as obfcrved by both of us; and 

 two or more of their vifible tracks among 

 the fixed ilars were dillinttly noted, and 

 found futttcient to enable us to calculate, 

 witiiin fniall Limits, tiieir direct dillancft 

 and height above the earth; the rcfulu 

 agreeing as well as could be with our cx- 

 pe^'tations. 



1 %vas fortunate in teaching two fteady 

 pcrfoiis, then in my employ, the method 

 of making and recording thefe kind of 

 obfcrvations, in which they at firft aililled 

 me, <is alio in obierving the tranlits of 

 certain liars paft a fixed object, for cor- 

 recting the going of my clock ; and after- 

 wards, by mciins of thefe allifiants (buli- 

 nefs often preventing me), a leries of 

 obfcrvations was carried on during more 

 than twelve months, generally from 8 to 

 9 or 10 o'clock on every evening when 

 thefe ihootiiig-ltais could be fecn. Mf 

 friend Mr. B., lefs fortunate iu fiiidiri"; 

 any perfon ca|)able and willing to atllft 

 him, was obliged, on account of buii- 

 ncfs, to intermit his obfcrvations fre- 

 quently, and at length dropped them al- 

 together : 1 (hould, however, have longer 

 continued them, in hopes of engaging 

 fonic other perfons in diftant places to 

 join me in them, but I'or the changes oc 

 calioaed by the fuddcu iufe of my illuf-« 



tllOUff 



