336 Shooting Stars of August^ 1839. 



balls of fire^ whichj by a common optical deception, seemed to 

 be connected with their source by fine strings of iire. They 

 went to some distance and then vanished. It was a magnificent 

 fire-work. Those flashes, some more and some less remarkable, 

 but all differing from common lightning, continued for a long 

 time, and I doubt not, were of the nature of meteors. '^ — Medical 

 Repos., 8vo. N. Y. vol, 5. (1S02.) pp. 33, 34 



(2.) I am indebted to Prof Olmsted, for the following facts re- 

 cently communicated to him by an officer of the U. S. Navy, who 

 made the memoranda at the time. 



''August 8, 1836. I have observed for several nights past, an 

 unusual number of shooting stai's, darting towards all parts of the 



heavens. 



^'Lat. at merid. 34^ 45' N. Long. 174^ 49' E, of Greenwich. 



*' August 9, 1836. Saw more brilliant meteoric appearances 

 last night ; one of them left a train similar to a rocket. 



" Lat. at merid. 33^ 49' N. Long: 177^ 10' E, of Greenwich. 



"August 11, 1836. Last night I again observed an unusual 

 number of brilhant meteors, and I find that the officers have noti- 

 ced the same in their watches. 



'' Lat. at merid, 3F 27' N. Long. 179^ 50' E. of Greenwich." 



It will be remembered that unusual numbers of meteors were 

 seen in this country about the same time, by Prof. Joslin and oth- 

 ers. (This Jour. vol. 33^ p. 178.) 



(3.) Chladni, (iiber Feuer-Meteore, etc. 4to. Wien, 1819;) 

 after referring to the meteoric showers of 533, 763, 1096, 1798 

 (Dec. 6,) 1799 (Nov. 12,) adds, '' On the evening of the 10th of 

 August, 1815, also, as I have been assured by a trustworthy ob- 

 server, there must have appeared a very large number of shooting 

 stars." p. 89. 



(4.) In "A History of the Proceedings of the Board of Health 

 of the city of New York in the summer and fall of 1822," (8vo- 

 N. Y. 1823, pp. 270,) Dr. Richard Pennel remarks, "On the night 

 of the 9th and 10th, (of August, 1822,) I observed a number of 

 shooting meteors," p. 227. 



(5.) In Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, (2 vols, 

 8vo. Phil. 1823,) vol. 2. p. xlviii, under date of Missouri, August 

 13, 1819, appears ''Night, meteors shooting to the North." This 

 extract and the one next preceding, are too indefinite to be of 



much consequence, but they are perhaps worth quoting in this 

 connection. 



