Chap. 1. 



DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY. 



17 



REMARKABLE METEORS. 



REMARKABLE METEORS. 



and from which fell large quantities of 

 meteoric stones in Weston, Connecticut, 

 Was seen fromRutiand in this state, and the 

 observation there made formed one of the 

 elements in Dr. Bowditch's calculations 

 of its velocity, distance and size. A me- 

 teor of the same kind passed over New 

 England and New York in a southwest- 

 erly direction a little before 10 o'clock in 

 the evening of the 23d of February, 1819, 

 and was seen from many parts of Ver- 

 mont. We had the pleasure of witness- 

 ing it at Bridgewater in this state. Tlie 

 meteor there made its appearance about 

 10" south of the zenith, and, descending 

 rapidly towards the southwest, it disap- 

 peared when about 2')° above the horizon. 

 Indeed, its velocity was such over Wind- 

 sor and Rutland counties as to give to all, 

 who observed it, though at the distance of 

 10,20 and even 30 miles from each other, 

 along the line of its course, the impres- 

 eionthat its fall was nearly perpendicular; 

 and each observer supposed that it fell 

 within a few hundred yards of himself. 

 Now as this meteor was probably moving 

 nearly parallel to the horizon, the decep- 

 tion must have arisen from the rapid dim- 

 inution of the visible angle between the 

 meteor and the horizon, occasioned by the 

 great horizontal velocity of the meteor in 

 its departure from the zenith of the ob- 

 server. These facts should teach us to 

 guard against the illusions of our own 

 senses and to admit with caution the tes- 

 timony of others respecting phenomena 

 of this nature. 



According to the best of our judgment, 

 the meteor was visible three or four sec- 

 onds, in which time it passed through an 

 arc of near 50° of the heavens. Its ap- 

 parent dialneter was about 20', or two 

 thirds that of the moon, and the color of 

 its light was very white and dazzling, like 

 that of iron in a furnace in a state of fu- 

 sion. It left a long train of light behind 

 it, and just at the time of disappearance a 

 violent scintillation was observed, and the 

 fragments detached continued luminous 

 at considerable distance from the main 

 body of the meteor, but no metcoralites 

 are known to have fallen. Five or six- 

 minutes after the disappearance of the 

 meteor, a very distinct report was heard 

 accompanied by a jarring of the earth, like 

 the report of a cannon at the distance of 

 five or six miles. Now, assuming the 

 correctness of the above data, and that 

 the report was given at the time of the 

 scintillation, the distance of the meteor 

 was then between 70 and 80 miles, and 

 its diameter about one third of a mile. 



Another, and still more remarkable me- 

 teor, was seen from tJiis state as v/ell as 



Pt. I. 3 



from the rest of New England, and from 

 New York and Canada, about ]0 o'clock 

 in the evening of the 9th of March, 1822. 

 From observations made at Burlington 

 and Windsor, Prof. Dean computed its 

 course to be S. 35° W., its distance from 

 Burlington 59 miles and from Windsor 83 

 miles, and its height above the earth about 

 37 miles when it first appeared, and when 

 it disappeared its distance irom Burling- 

 ton was 144 miles and its distance from 

 Windsor 133 miles and its height 29 miles. 

 According to these computations, at the 

 first appearance of the meteor, it was ver- 

 tical over the unsettled parts of Essex 

 county in the state of New York, and at 

 its disappearance, it was over the western 

 part of Schoharie county in the same 

 state. 



Several other meteors of this kind have 

 been observed, the most remarkable of 

 which was seen from the northern part of 

 the state and from nearly the whole of 

 Lower Canada, about 4 o'clock in the 

 morning of the 2Sth of May, 1834. It be- 

 ing a time when people generally were in 

 bed and asleep, comparatively few had the 

 opportunity of seeing it. Many, however, 

 were awakened by its light, and still more 

 by its report. Residing then at Hatley in 

 Canada, which is 15 miles north of the 

 north line of Vermont at Derby, we were 

 suddenlj' awakened by a noise resembling 

 that of a large number of heavy carriages 

 driven furiously over a rough road or 

 pavement, and by a shaking of the house, 

 which caused a rattling of every door and 

 window. Supposing it to be an earth- 

 quake, we sprung out of bed and reached 

 the door two seconds at least before the 

 sound ceased. The atmosphere was calm 

 and the sky was perfectly clear, with the 

 exception of a narrow train of cloud or 

 smoke, extending from southwest to north- 

 east, and at considerable distance to the 

 northward of the zenith. It was nearly 

 motionless, and was apparently at a vastly 

 greater height than clouds usually lie. 

 Indeed there was something so peculiar 

 in its appearance as to make it the sub- 

 ject of remark and careful observation till 

 after sunrise, when it gradually vanished, 

 although at this time we had no reason to 

 suspect its connexion with the noise and 

 shaking of the earth, which had awaken- 

 ed us. We, however, soon learned that 

 a remarkable meteor had been seen, and 

 that its course lay along the very line oc- 

 cupied by the remarkable cloud above 

 mentioned. From an intelligent young 

 man, who was fishing at the tim*^ on Mas- 

 suippi lake in Hatley, and who had a full 

 viev/of the meteor during the whole, time 

 it was visible, we learned that it made its 



