312 Astronomy .—Fire- Balls. 
formed one of the colonies of ancient Greece. The head was 
encircled with a laurel wreath in gold; on the forehead was a 
gold medal, with a head, and the initials P.P. (Philip.) On 
each side of the body were vases of silver and porcelain, chains 
of gold; and ear-rings. Or one of the fingers was a gold ring, 
with a precious stone, on which were engraven two figures, the 
oe male and the other female, admirably executed. 
ASTRONOMY. 
To Mr. Tilloch. 
Sir,—Permit me to solicit the attention of your astronomical 
readers to a subject on which some information seems desirable. 
T mean the works of the celebrated German astronomer Schroeter 
relative to the moon’s disc. Dr. Brewster* says ‘* the most ac- 
curate and complete”’ drawings of the moon “ that have yet been 
published are those of the celebrated Schroeter, who has given 
highly magnified views of most parts of the moon’s surface.” 
Now the only work of whose existence I am aware, is entitled 
“ Selenotopographische Fragmente, 4to, Gottingen, 179] ;” and | 
the editors of the Monthly Review f, in giving an account of that 
work, say, ‘* The present volume contains the result of the au- 
thor’s observations, with respect to the northern parts of the 
lunar dise.” Again; the work just mentioned contains only 
forty-three plates, yet Dr. Brewster has references to Plates LIV. 
LY. and LVII. If any of your correspondents can explain these 
circumstances, it will no doubt gratify many persons who are in 
the same situation with, yours, &c. AXTPOPIAONS. 
March 31, 1819. 
FIRE-BALLS. 
M. de Humboldt in his ‘¢ Personal Narrative of Travels to the 
Equinoctial Region,” (vol. iii.) gives an account of a series of 
most remarkable atmospheric phenomena witnessed at Cumana 
in lat. 10° 27’ 52”, long. 67° 59’, by his fellow-traveller M. 
Bonpland. On the 7th of Nov. 1799, the atmosphere, after an 
earthquake, had returned to its former purity, and the sky near 
the zenith exhibited the blue tint peculiar to tropical climates. 
At half past 2 A.M. on the 12th, thousands of bolides (fire-balls) 
and falling stars sueceeded each other during four hours. Their 
direction was very regular from north to south; and they filled 
a space of 60° in the sky, from 30° N. to 36° S. of the true E. 
The meteors rose above the horizon at E.N.E. and at E. de- 
scribing arcs more or less extended, and were never seen to fall to- 
wards the S. after having followed the direction of the meridian. 
* Ferguson's Astronomy, by Brewster, vol. il. p. 247. 
T Vol. vii, p. 482. ; 
Some 
