444 METEORIC STONES AND SHOOTING STARS. 



ceding table, that these appearances have not at all been confined to the night 

 of the 12th ; but independently of this, the night of the 12th at Paris was so 

 bright, that stars of the second magnitude were not visible, and consequently 

 meteors even supposing them to have existed of similar or of inferior bright- 

 ness could not have been observed. It should also be considered, that their 

 non-appearance at any particular place, is no proof of their non-existence in 

 our atmosphere. They may be produced during the day, or they may be pro- 

 duced in a part of the atmosphere not visible from the place in question. Thus, 

 in 1833, when they were a general object of terror to the people of America, 

 they attracted but little attention in Europe. On the other hand, they some- 

 times appear contemporaneously in the atmosphere on opposite sides of the 

 globe. In 1837, they were observed from the French ship Bonite, on the 

 other side of the globe, while on the same day in Europe, a vast number ap- 

 peared. 



On the night of the 12th of November, 1836, Sir John Herschel observed 

 these phenomena at the cape of Good Hope. Their number was not very 

 considerable, but their motion had a marked regularity ; they appeared to 

 diverge from a centre or focus, which preserved a fixed position with respect 

 to the horizon, but had no such fixed relation to the objects on the firmament. 

 This point, or centre, to which their common directions converged, was a point 

 of about thirty degrees above the horizon, and sixty degrees west of north. 



On the night of the 9th of August, 1837, M. Warlmann observed these phe- 

 nomena at Geneva ; between nine o'clock, P. M., and midnight, eighty-two 

 were seen in different parts of the heavens. They were most frequent about 

 ten o'clock, and then appeared to emanate from a centre or focus situated be- 

 tween the star B, in the constellation of Bootes, and the star A, in the con- 

 stellation of the Dragon. At a quarter past ten, twenty-seven were seen, and 

 were remarkable for their bright bluish light. Other observers in the same 

 neighborhood and on the same night, counted one hundred and forty-nine in 

 one part of the heavens, between a quarter before nine and half past eleven 

 o'clock. 



Of these hundred and forty-nine meteors, three had the appearance of round 

 disks, or globes, of a ruddy red color, measuring from 4 to 5 minutes in di- 

 ameter, being about one sixth part of the moon's diameter. Twenty-six were 

 more brilliant than the planet Venus, and of resplendent whiteness ; the re- 

 mainder had the appearance of stars from the first to the third magnitude, their 

 colors varying between blue, yellow, and orange. 



On the night of the llth of November, 1832, M. Tharand, a retired officer 

 at Limoges, stated that workmen who were employed in laying the foundation of 

 the bridge over the river Vienne, observed the firmament brilliant, with meteors, 

 which at first only amused them, but after some hours the number and splen- 

 dor of these luminous appearances were so greatly augmented, that the people 

 were seized with panics, and so great was their terror, that they abandoned 

 their labor and flew to their families, exclaiming that the end of the world 

 had arrived. On the next day these people were interrogated on the subject, 

 and their accounts varied according to the different impressions which had 

 been produced on their imaginations. Some declared that they saw streams 

 of blue fire ; others that they beheld bars of red iron crossing each other in 

 all directions ; others that they beheld an immense quantity of flying rockets. 

 All agreed that the phenomena were diffused over every part of the firmament ; 

 that they commenced at eleven o'clock, and continued till four the next 

 morning. 



