40 Account of a Fall of Meteoric Stones. 



The Meteor, which has so recently excited alarm in 

 many, and astonishment in all, first made its appearance 

 in Weston, about a quarter or half past 6 o'clock, 

 A. M., on Monday, the 14th inst. The morning was 

 somewhat cloudy ; the clouds were dispersed in unequal 

 masses, being in some places thick and opaque, in 

 others light, fleecy, and partially transparent; while 

 spots of unclouded sky appeared here and there among 

 them. Along the northern part of the horizon, a space 

 of 10 or 15 degrees was perfectly clear. The day had 

 merely dawned, and there was little or no light, except 

 from the moon, which was just setting. Judge Wheeler, 

 to whose intelligence and observation, apparently unin- 

 fluenced by fear or imagination, we are indebted for 

 the substance of this part of our account, was passing 

 through the enclosure adjoining his house, with his 

 face to the north, and his eyes on the ground, when a 

 sudden flash, occasioned by the transition of a luminous 

 body across the northern margin of the clear sky, illu- 

 minated every object, and caused him to look up. He 

 immediately discovered a globe of fire, just then pass- 

 ing behind the first cloud, which was very dark and 

 obscure, although it did not entirely hide the meteor. 



In this situation, its appearance was distinct and well- 

 defined, like that of the sun seen through a mist. It 

 rose from the north, and proceeded in a direction nearly 

 perpcndicular to the horizon, but inclining, by a very 

 small angle, to the west, and deviating a little from the 

 plane of a great circle, but in pretty large curves, some- 

 times on one side of the plane, and sometimes on the 



