134 On the Meteors of ISih November, 1833. 



into still smaller balls, till it disappeared. Looking up, they saw the 

 other portion of the meteor just as it disappeared in the distance 

 before them. This phenomenon was attended with* no noise or 

 heat, and their clothing exhibited no traces of having been in con- 

 tact with any foreign substance."* 



6. The St. Petersburg Academical Gazette, contains the follow- 

 ing account of an extraordinary phenomenon from a letter dated 

 Moscow, May 2, 1832. "In March last, there fell in the fields of 

 the village of Kourianof, thirteen versts from Wolokolamsk, a com- 

 bustible substance of a yellowish color, at least two inches thick, and 

 covering a superficies of between six and seven hundred square feet. 

 The inhabitants, at first, thought it was snow, but on examination, it 

 appeared to have the properties of cotton, having, on being torn, the 

 same tenacity ; but, on being put into a vessel full of water, it assu- 

 med the consistence of rosin. On being put to the fire, in its primi- 

 tive state, it burnt and sent forth a flame like spirits of wine ; but in 

 its resinous state, it boiled on the fire, without becoming inflamed, 

 probably because it was mixed with some portion of snow, from 

 which it had been taken. After a more minute examination, the 

 rosin had the color of amber, was elastic like indian rubber, and 

 smelt like prepared oil, mixed with wax.f 



7. " Soon after six o'clock in the morning of the 14th November, 

 1832, (says a letter from Bruneck, in the Tyrol) a broad stream of light 

 suddenly descended from the center of the firmament nearly down 

 to the ground, and was then drawn gradually up again to the middle 

 of the sky, whence, for several seconds, it stretched itself out to- 

 wards the north in a long train of light, which first appeared in a 

 straight, and then changed into a wavy line ; after this, it gathered 

 into a light orb resembling a white cloud, and remained stationary in 

 the center of the firmament for a full quarter of an hour, when it 

 disappeared with the break of day. The appearance was accompa- 

 nied with so vivid a degree of illumination that the smallest pebble in 

 the road was readily distinguishable, and those who were abroad at 

 the time, were completely panic struck. The sky, instead of being 

 muddy with vapor, as is common at this season, and at this time in 

 the morning, was clear and cloudless, and the air remarkably serene 

 and tranquil. Between five and six o'clock, however, an unusual 



• E. N. Sill, Esq., of Cuyahoga Falls, (communicated to the writer.) 

 t Annual Register, 1832. 



