THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN METEOROLOGY 



tendency to appeal to electricity in explanation of every 

 obscure phenomenon ; and in this case the seeming sim- 

 ilarity between a lightning-flash and the flash of an 

 aerolite lent color to the explanation. So we find 

 Thomas Forster, a meteorologist of repute, still adher- 

 ing to the atmospheric theory of formation of aerolites 

 in his book published in 1823 ; and, indeed, the prevail- 

 ing opinion of the time seemed divided between various 

 telluric theories, to the neglect of any cosmical theory 

 whatever. 



But in 1833 occurred a phenomenon which set the 

 matter finally at rest. A great meteoric shower oc- 

 curred in November of that year, and in observing it 

 Professor Denison Olmsted, of Yale, noted that all the 

 stars of the shower appeared to come from a single 

 centre or vanishing-point in the heavens, and that 

 this centre shifted its position with the stars, and hence 

 was not telluric. The full significance of this obser- 

 vation was at once recognized by astronomers ; it de- 

 monstrated beyond all cavil the cosmical origin of the 

 shooting-stars. Some conservative meteorologists kept 

 up the argument for the telluric origin for some decades 

 to come as a matter of course such a band trails alwa} 7 s 

 in the rear of progress. But even these doubters were 

 silenced when the great shower of shooting-stars ap- 

 peared again in 1866, as predicted by Olbers and New- 

 ton, radiating from the same point of the heavens as 

 before. 



Since then the spectroscope has added its confirmatory 

 evidence as to the identity of meteorite and shooting- 

 star, and, moreover, has linked these atmospheric meteors 

 with such distant cosmic residents as comets and nebulae. 

 Thus it appears that Chladni's daring hypothesis of 1794 

 L 161 



