BOOK OF THE DAMNED 277 



down, Nov. 10 or 12, 1883. Very likely this phenomenon should 

 be placed in our expression upon torpedo-shaped bodies that have 

 been seen in the sky our data upon dirigibles, or super-Zeppelins 

 but our attempted classifications are far from rigorous or are 

 mere gropes. In the Scientific American, 50-40, a correspondent 

 writes from Humacao, Porto Rico, that, Nov. 21, 1883, he and 

 several other persons or persons, as it were had seen a ma- 

 jestic appearance, like a comet. Visible three successive nights: dis- 

 appeared then. The Editor says that he can offer no explanation. 

 If accepted, this thing must have been close to the earth. If it 

 had been a comet, it would have been seen widely, and the news 

 would have been telegraphed over the world, says the Editor. 

 Upon page 07 of this volume of the Scientific American, a cor- 

 respondent writes that, at Sulphur Springs, Ohio, he had seen 

 "a wonder in the sky," at about the same date. It was torpedo- 

 shaped, or something with a nucleus, at each end of which was 

 a tail. Again the Editor says that he can offer no explanation: 

 that the object was not a comet. He associates it with the at- 

 mospheric effects general in 1883. But it will be our expression 

 that, in England and Holland, a similar object was seen in Novem- 

 ber, 1882. 



In the Scientific American , 40-294, is published a letter from 

 Henry Harrison, of Jersey City, copied from the N. Y. Tribune: 

 that upon the evening of April 13, 1879, Mr. Harrison was search- 

 ing for Brorsen's comet, when he saw an object that was moving 

 so rapidly that it could not have been a comet. He called a friend 

 to look, and his observation was confirmed. At two o'clock in tHe 

 morning this object was still visible. In the Scientific American 

 Supplement, 7-2885, Mr. Harrison disclaims sensationalism, which 

 he seems to think unworthy, and gives technical details: he says that 

 the object was seen by Mr. J. Spencer Devoe, of Manhattan- 

 ville. 



