124 OF METEORS. CHAP. 3. 1. 



which seem to favour an opinion which I once 

 entertained, that they are somehow connected 

 with the combustion of hydrogen. They 

 sometimes end with a loud report. And one 

 kind of them is most frequent after Rain, and 

 in stormy weather. The separation of the 

 gases of water has been mentioned by M. B. 

 P. Van Mons, in a paper given to the Batavian 

 Society. If hydrogen be thus separated, and 

 partly mixed, as it must be, with common air, 

 and should be ignited, we may conceive a 

 Meteor produced : but this is not sufficient to 

 account for their long course which is generally 

 in a slanting downward direction. The occa- 

 sional report of the Meteor at its termination 

 may be supposed, however, to be caused by its 

 meeting with hydrogen gas in its descent, and 

 setting it on fire. This explosion, too, may 

 interrupt the column of combustible gas, and 

 thus put an end to the Meteor. 



In attributing igneous Meteors to the com- 

 bustion of gases, which ascend from earth, we 

 assume what cannot be proved : for no one has, 

 I believe, seen such columns of combustible 

 gas.* There are, however, some circumstances 



* The opinion of Aristotle about the cause of Meteors 

 seems to agree in some measure with that of M. De Luc. 

 Consult Arist. Meteor, lib. i. cc. 2 4. 



