On Meteoric Showers in August. 355 
universally remarked, that the air this night, for many hours after the eruption, 
was te A asare vulgarly called falling stars; they shot 
erally in a horizontal direction, lea a luminous nd them, but which 
quickly disappeared. he night was remarkably fine, starlight, and without a 
cloud. This kind of electrical seemed to be harmless, and never to reach the 
ground.”—Ann. Reg. pp. 81, 
It is scarcely possible that these meteors came from Vesuvius. 
The writer says expressly, that at 7 at night all was calm, and gives 
us no intimation that there were, after that hour, until the morning 
of the 11th, any signs of disturbance in the mountain. If these 
bodies proceeded from the crater, they must have been visible in 
their ascent. Moreover, had they been either incandescent or burn- 
ing particles ejected from the volcano, they must have fallen to the 
earth. 
The constant expectation of a new volcanic eruption, doubtless 
induced many persons to maintain a vigilant watch during the night, 
and thus they happened to witness this display of shooting stars, 
which might otherwise have passed unnoticed. 
(3.) The following extracts are taken from the “ Results of a 
Meteorological Journal for — 1826, kept at the Observatory 
of the Royal Academy, Gosport, Hants,” contained in Taylor’s 
Philosoph. Mag. and Journal, Seu. No. 341. London, Sept. 1826. 
Vol. 68. 
“This high mean temperature is chiefly owing to the warm and sultry — 
in which meteors were frequently seen. ~ the night of the a tastant, from 
till 12 P. M., there was a fine display of in all direction. 
the lower ones appeare ed the largest t and most luminous sad several left - 
sion about every quarter of an hour. sine were eee "hociebiiel beds of tivion- 
tratus of an Desires! a akceies moving about at the time, which with freshen 
ing breezes from the westward, seemed to favour their appearance. Two brilliant 
meteors, each about four inches [ ! ] in apparent diameter, were also seen here in 
the nights of the 18th and 27th. They descended comparatively slow from an 
alt. of 44° or 45°, and in the mean time each separated into two distinct ei 
before they disappeared.. According to observations made here for some yea 
past, meteors have been more prevalent in August, than in any other month. ” 
pp. 237, 238 
(4.) In the Philosophical Magazine and Journal, 8vo. London, 
No. 277, May, 1821, Vol. 57, p. 346, is a ‘Series of Queries re- 
garding Shooting Stars and Meteors,” by John Farey, Sen., in 
which he furnishes evidence that on the night of August 9, 1820, 
there was seen at Gosport, a very unusual number of shooting stars. 
