82 Mr Olmsted on the Meteoric Shoxoers 



important light on the process of petrifaction. We may assert 

 with safety, that the first act began with impregnation, and that 

 then the organic matter was removed either by a high tempera- 

 ture, or by the moist method, or by a gradual decay. Thela^t 

 seems to me by much the most probable, and hence also the greater 

 compactness of fossil wood may be explained, a topic which, 

 owing to the extensive range of the whole subject, and the short 

 time devoted to it, I did not reach. Although nature certainly 

 did not employ the acids which I used, in her formation of the 

 woods converted into flint or calcedony, yet the possibility of 

 imitation has here been proved, and we may hope that yet further 

 elucidation of the subject may be attained by other means.* 

 But, before succeeding, I will not speak of the attempts which 

 I have already commenced to reach the desired object. In con- 

 clusion, I have to remark, that specimens have been sent of the 

 imitations of organic remains to the collections of Berlin and 

 Breslau. 



On the Meteoric Shoxcers of November 1836. By Denison 

 Olmsted, Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy in 

 Yale College.-f- 



FoR six years in succession, there has been observed, on or 

 about the 13th of November of each year, a remarkable exhibi- 

 tion of shooting stars, which has received the name of the " Me- 

 teoric 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 ;^ 

 and near Orenburg, in Russia ;** and at Pernambuco, in 

 South America.-|"f- The magnificent meteoric shower of 1833, is 



" In a more recently published notice, Mr Goppert remarks, " By placing 

 plants for some time in silico-hydro-fluoric acid, I succeeded in obtaining a 

 coating of calcedon}-, which was perfectly clear and transparent, and resembled 

 hyalite. I made this observation at the beginning of August, and shewed the 

 result of the experiment to several friends. + Silliman's Journal, 



vol. xxxi. p. 38G. X Amer. Journal of Science, vol. xxviii. p. 419. 



II Bibliotheque Universelle, Sept. 1835. § Amer. Joum. xxvi p. 13G. 



f Edin. New Phil. Journ. July 1836. *• Ibid.^349. +t New Fork 



American. Nov. 15. 1836. 



