VOL. LI.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 381 



passed over that city* just about the same time, had the same appearance, and 

 moved in the like direction. 



1 1 . Mr. Martin Doubleday, near Durham, says that a quarter before Q, as 

 he was sitting writing by candle-light, with his face towards a window fronting 

 the north west, he was surprized by a sudden and extraordinary light, and step- 

 ping hastily to the window, saw the resemblance of a large sky-rocket, falling and 

 bursting into sparks of fire, which became more scattered in its descent, and 

 seemed to be quite spent by the time it reached the horizon (which it did, as 

 near as he could guess, due north -J-), its path appearing luminous to a consi- 

 derable distance from the scattered parts, which with it were not dispersed, butf 

 as if confined between 2 parallel straight lines. The greatest height of its lumi- 

 nous path, when he first saw it, was 25° above the horizon, n.w. by n. He 

 heard no noise at the time, nor after ; and he concluded from its appearance, 

 that it must have begun to burst before he saw it. 



12. Mr. Blake, p.r.s. sent the observation of the Rev. Wm. Henderson, 

 vicar of Felton (a village about 24 miles n.n.w. of Newcastle) ; who says, that 

 the night was dark and calm ; that as he was going home a little after 9, the 

 road was instantly so much enlightened, that he might have seen to take up a 

 pin ; that the globe to the eye was about the size of a cannon-ball of 6 or 7 

 pounds weight; that he could not guess at its distance from the earth, but 

 during the short time he saw it, he imagined he heard it whiz over his head ; 

 that it had a tail like that of a comet, almost a yard in length, perpetually emit- 

 ting sparks of fire ; that the time of observation was very short, on account of a 

 great hill that rises on the south side of the river Coquet, and of a clump of trees 

 on the north side, which obstructed his view ; that its velocity was great, for 

 that it did not continue in sight above 5 or 6 seconds ; and that its course, as 

 near as he could judge, was to the north-west. 



13. Dr. Gilchrist, physician at Dumfries (which lies a few miles north of the 

 Solway frith, and about 30 miles n. w. by w. of Carlisle,) stated, that the 

 best account he could get of the meteor (which he did not see himself,) was from a 

 young man of that place, who, in common affairs, was sensible and distinct. 

 This person being in a room on a first floor, which had the windows to the 

 north-east, was surprized by an extraordinary light, and, running to one of the 

 windows, saw a large fiery body, like red-hot iron. It appeared to him as large and 

 as long, as a middle-sized man, the fore part broadest ; its progress was from s. e. 

 to N. w. part of the tail separated from the rest, but he still thought it followed 



• By the accoiints I had from Edinburgh, it was not nearly vertical there. — Orig. 



+ The head of the meteor, seen from this gentleman's house, could not reach an unobstructed 

 horizon, nor be seen due north by 3 or 4 points, consistently with most of the other observations.. 

 —Orig. 



