114 



NATURE 



\_Dec, 6, 1877 



elapsed between the flash and bang. Parry's girl was outside, 

 and came in crying ; said she had seen ' a very funny kind of 

 lightning.' Parry remarked it shook his door." 



The two men named above are in my employ, and live about 

 300 yards from my house. Some friends of ours living about 

 two miles from us also saw the flash and heard the report, but 

 the latter not so loud as we did. They described it as sounding 

 as if a bird had flown against the window." 



I give the above extracts verbatim, as first impressions, unin- 

 fluenced by what one hears or reads subsequently, are much the 

 most valuable. 



Dr. S. Drew, of Chapeltown, Sheffield, writes as follows : — 



I send you the following calculations as to the meteor of 

 November 23. They may interest some of your readers. The 

 estimates are only intended as approximate, as the observations 

 at different points of view were too vague for much accuracy, 

 and indeed, in two instances, obviously quite unreliable. 



The visible course of the meteor appears to have been from a 

 point about 1 50 miles above the town of Worksop to the Irish 

 Channel, north-west of Liverpool, probably nearly half-way 

 between Liverpool and the Isle of Man — a direction from east 

 by south to west by north, the horizontal distance traversed 

 being rather over 100 miles and the perpendicular 150 miles. 

 The size of the fire-ball before breaking up was about 150 

 yards in diameter. By this is meant the size of the luminous 

 sphere, not that of the actual bolide, which would be much less. 



The rate of motion was near twenty miles per second in 

 horizontal, and thirty miles in perpendicular ; as this in horizon- 

 tal is little more than would be caused in appearance by the 

 orbital and diurnal motion of the earth, it is evident that the 

 proper motion of the meteor was nearly perpendicular to the 

 earth's surface ; and, if belonging to the solar system, it must 

 have moved in a very eccentric orbit, stretching far beyond that 

 of the earth. The meteor broke at an elevation of about fifty 

 miles, and then appeared much larger. The fragments must 

 have dropped into the sea. 



Was it seen from Ireland or the Isle of Man ? 



S. A. K. writing to the Manchester Courier from Black- 

 pool states that about 8.30 P.M. on the 23rd he beheld a ball 

 of a pale blue colour shoot across the sky from east to west, 

 followed by a train of rainbow lines, brilliant beyond descrip- 

 tion. " It was over in a moment ; but as I and several others 

 tood discussing the phenomenon we had just witnessed, two 

 muffled booms as of far-distant cannon were distinctly heard in 

 the west, after an interval of two or three minutes." Capt. 

 Tupman writes from the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, to the 

 Times: "There is reason to suppose that the great meteor 

 which appeared at 8.20 p.m. on Friday last (November 23) fell 

 into the sea near the mouth of the river Dee. From its splendour 

 it was probably seen by many persons near the shores of North 

 Wales, Cheshire, and Lancashire, whose observations would be 

 of the greatest value ; and I venture to solicit the publicity of 

 your columns in order that such observations may be forwarded 

 here. On Tuesday night (Nov. 27), at 10.26, G.M.T., I observed 

 another pass slowly from a point about 6° over Castor to 5° left of 

 Sirius. It remained in sight fifteen or sixteen seconds, deter- 

 mined by counting. Towards the end it became faint, of a dull 

 red colour, and moved with extreme slowness. I have no doubt 

 it must have appeared very large to observers near Dover and in 

 Normandy, and it is to be hoped^ its path has been recorded 

 elsewhere." 



A meteor was observed at Strassburg on November 23, the 

 very day when the meteor was observed in England, but the time 

 was a little after six o'clock (local time), and the direction from 

 north to south. A violent detonation was heard, but without any 

 resemblance to that of thunder. The light was as vivid as ordinary 

 lightning at Strassburg. A witness states that he saw the meteor 

 falling at a small distance from him (three or four metres) in a 

 wood belonging to the Chevaudier de Valdrome on the new 

 road leading from Lorquin to the French frontier. All the trees 

 were illuminated as if by daylight. It is not reported by the 

 Strassburg Gazette whether any stone was found on the spot. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE 



Oxford. — The Brackenbury Scholarship in physical science 

 has been awarded to Mr. Cunningham, Balliol College. 



London. — The Council of University College have) awarded 

 the Sharpey Physiological Scholarship to Mr. Patrick Geddes 

 and the Joseph Hume Scholarship in Political Economy of 20/. 

 per annum for three years to Mr. J. G. Schurman. 



Edinburgh. — A public meeting, under the presidency of the 

 Right Hon. the Lord Provost, was held on the 29th nit. at 

 Edinburgh to advocate the claims of the Edinburgh University 

 Buildings Extension Scheme. The cost of the new medical 

 school, &c., will be about 187,000/., and of that sum 82,000/. 

 has been subscribed by the public and 80,000/. has been promised 

 by Government on condition that the remaining 25,500/. be sub- 

 scribed before the end of next year. It was announced that 

 about 10,000/. of this has been promised, leaving upwards of 

 14,000/. still to be raised. In support of the appeal it was men- 

 tioned that in some class-rooms there is not sitting room for the 

 students. The number of students is increasing every year, there 

 being at present enrolled 212 more than at the same time last 

 year, so that before the summer session is over there will probably 

 be close on 2,500 students matriculated. 



The first meeting of the fourth session of the Chemical Society 

 of the University was held in the University on November 28, 

 the president, Prof. A. Crum Brown, in the chair. The president 

 gave an introductory lecture on the "Life and Works of Dr. 

 Joseph Black." The following office-bearers were elected for the 

 ensuing seasion : — President — Prof. A. Crum Brown ; Vice- 

 Presidents— J. Gibson, Ph.D., F.R.S.E., W. Inglis Clark, 

 B.Sc. ; Secretary — ^J. Adams ; Treasurer — C. Maxwell, R.N. 

 The society numbers fifty-two members, and ten new members 

 were proposed. 



Manchester. — A Chemical Society has been commenced at 

 the Owens College. The society is intended to include all 

 students of science at the College — Dalton Scholars, Associates, 

 and a few others connected now, or in the past, with the 

 Science Classes of Owens College. The society was opened on 

 Wednesday evening by an address from Prof. Thorpe, F. R.S. 

 on "Robert Boyle and the Sceptical Chemist." The Syllabus 

 of the society for the sessioa is as follows : — " Are the Elements 

 Elementary?" by Mr. Pattison Muir; "Graham," by Mr. P. 

 P. Bedson, B.Sc. ; " Berzelius," by Mr. J. K. Crow, B.Sc. ; 

 "Alkali Manufacture," by Mr. Bevan : "Crystallisation," by 

 Mr. Baker; "Liebig," by Mr. C. F. Cross ; " Valensy," by 

 Mr. O'Shea ; " Chemical Industry of Japan," by Mr. Siguira ; 

 and a paper, subject not settled, by Prof. Gamgee. It is hoped 

 and believed that the society will tend to increase the interest in 

 scientific pursuits already manifested by members of the College. 



France. — A number of important measures have been taken 

 by the French Minister of Public Instruction for fostering the 

 zeal of students and professors in the several French faculties. 

 By a decree issued on November 5 a number of scholarships 

 hare been created in each academy at the expense of the public 

 exchequer. In future years scholars are to be appointed after 

 having passed special examinations similar to those for exhibi- 

 tions in the English universities. Exceptions are created in 

 favour of students who have been particularly successful in 

 taking their preliminary degrees and have published approved 

 papers in the Academical Transactions, or have rendered special 

 services in tuition. For the present year the different scholar- 

 ships are to be granted by a special commission. Three of these 

 commissions have been established — one for letters, another for 

 science, and the third for medicine. These scholarships are to 

 be continued only for a limited time, varying from two to four 

 years, but are to be stopped at once if the scholar does not give 

 sa'isfaction to the professors or lecturers. A part of these 

 scholarships is to be granted to candidates for the mastership of 

 arts (Licencie-es-Lettresandes-Sciences), and another part to the 

 masters in several faculties wishing to take the highest honours 

 in their respective faculties. By another decree, published on 

 the same day, M. Brunet has created a number of lectureships 

 styled "conferences." A number of the lecturers are to act as 

 public tutors, helping public professors in their duties. Other 

 lectureships are to be granted to professors teaching supple- 

 mentary sciences which, up to the present time, have not come 

 within the limits of the official programme. The salary of all ot 

 them is 120/., and they are to be appointed yearly from among 

 doctors or members of the academies. In some peculiar cases 

 Masters of Arts are eligible to these lectureships. The new 

 organisation is expected to work during the present classical 

 year. 



