156 On the Meteors of 13th November, 1833. 



to limit the distance still farther, say to 1 mile, he must even then ad- 

 mit the actual diameter to have been 48 feet. These considerations, 

 indefinite as they are, are sufficient lo show that the body in question 

 must have been one " of great size," agreeably to our proposition. 



We may farther infer the great magnitude of some of the meteors 

 from the dimensions of the trains or clouds which resulted from their 

 destruction. These often stretched over many degrees, and at length, 

 were borne along in the direction of the wind, exactly in the manner 

 of a small cloud. A 



From the remarkable appearances of these objects, it was early 

 supposed that we might be able to identify certain meteors, proving 

 that the same one was seen by different observers, more or less remote 

 from each other, and that we should thus obtain data for estimating 

 the height at which these meteors were extinguished. But the sub- 

 ject is not without its difficulties. On the one hand, there are many 

 circumstances which seem to indicate that the same meteor was seen 

 at different places. Several persons, on reading the notice which I 

 gave of a fire ball that I observed, immediately supposed it identical 

 with one seen by themselves. My account was as follows. " One 

 ball, that shot off in the northwest direction, and exploded a little 

 northward of the star Capella, left, just behind the place of explo- 

 sion, a phosphorescent train of peculiar beauty. The line was at first 

 nearly straight, but it shortly began to contract in length and to dilate 

 in breadth, and to assume the figure of a serpent drawing itself up, 

 until it appeared like a small luminous cloud of vapor. This cloud 

 was borne eastward (by the wind, as was supposed, which was blow- 

 ing gently in that direction,) opposite to the direction in which the 

 meteor had proceeded, remaining in sight several minutes." The 

 time was 15 minutes before 6 o'clock. 



Mr. Daniel Tomlinson of Brookfield, about twenty five miles W. 

 b N. from New Haven, characterizes a meteor which he saw as fol- 

 lows : 



" The time of appearance was about half past five o'clock ; it might 

 vary a few minutes from that time. The course was from south to 

 north, varying perhaps from 3° to 5° to the west of north. It start- 

 ed 4° or 5° south of the zenith, and passed directly over head to 

 about the same distance north of the zenith; all who saw it here agree 

 essentially in the foregoing particulars as well as in the following 

 that the train, when first seen was nearly straight, rather largest in 



the middle, and tapering nearly to a point at the south end ; that it 



