METHODISTS. 



519 



ing with the greatest rapidity through the 

 atmosphere, at not less than 492,184 F. He 

 says : 



Of course, by far the larger portion of the heat 

 generated by the loss of energy of the moving stone 

 would be imparted to the air along its trajectory ; 

 but, assuming that only T &oth part of it is retained by 

 the stone, it would be more than sufficient to account 

 for the phenomena of fusion and detonation which 

 frequently accompany the transit of such bodies 

 through our atmosphere. 



In the case of small masses, it is clear that their 

 high velocities would be more rapidly extinguished 

 by the resistance of the . air than is the case with 

 large masses. In the small mass the transformation 

 of energy into heat being accomplished in a shorter 

 time, a greater amount of the evolved heat would be 

 retained by the stone than in the large mass whose 

 velocity is more gradually checked by the resisting 

 medium. 



Hence, when the smaller masses plunge into the 

 upper atmosphere, the matter may be volatilized or 

 utterly dissipated by the intensity of the suddenly- 

 evolved heat. In this minutely-divided condition 

 the material of the stones would float about in the 

 atmosphere, and ultimately reach the surface of the 

 earth in the form of meteoric dust. 



It is well known that the observations of Benzen- 

 berg, Quetelet, Herrick, Newton, and others, assign 

 to the so-called " falling-stars " velocities equal to, 

 if not surpassing, the velocities of meteoric stones. 

 According to the foregoing suggestion, these may be 

 nothing more than small meteoric stones which are 

 volatilized in the upper regions of the atmosphere 

 long before reaching the surface of the earth. 



METHODISTS. I. METHODIST EPISCOPAL 

 CHURCH. In the following table is given a sum- 

 mary of the statistics of this Church, as com- 

 piled from authentic sources, for the year 1872 : 



The increase in the members, over the num- 

 ber reported in 1871, is 41,498. The total 

 number of members and probationers is 1,458,- 

 441. The number of local preachers is 11,964 ; 

 number of Sunday-schools, 17,471; of officers 

 and teachers, 193,691 ; of scholars, 1,278,559. 

 Number of churches, 14,008| ; value, $62,393,- 

 237 ; number of parsonages, 4,484^ ; value, 

 $8,575,877. 



The benevolent contributions for 1872 were 

 reported as follows : For Conference claimants, 

 $150,140.62 ; for the Missionary Society, $671,- 

 000.21 ; for the Woman's Foreign Missionary 

 Society, $18,755.34; for church extension, 

 $94,572.63 ; for tbe Tract Society, $21,585.67 ; 

 for the Sunday-School Union, $22,674.15; for 

 the American Bible Society, $42,528.35 ; for 

 the Freedmen's Aid Society, $12,048.97; for 

 education, $6,660.42. 



The following statistics are given of the Ger- 

 man department of the work of the Methodist 

 Episcopal Church. The German Churches in 

 America are organized into five Conferences, 

 which are known as the Central German, the 

 Chicago German, the Edit German, the North- 

 west German, and the Southwest German 

 Conferences. Those in Germany are organ- 

 ized into the Germany and Switzerland Con- 

 ference. 



