2 22 IN STARRY REALMS. 



to see it. But the immediate excitement was over, friends 

 had parted for the night ; some of them had entered their 

 houses; others had renewed their walk homewards, and 

 had travelled nearly a mile on their journey ; vehicles 

 had driven a couple of miles ; trains had run half-a- 

 dozen miles ; columns of newspapers had been read. Many 

 who had seen the meteor had already forgotten it, when 

 their ears were deafened by the arrival of the awful crash. 

 The waves of sound had to travel a distance as great as 

 from London to Liverpool, and even at the rate of a mile 

 every five seconds this cannot be done in less than a 

 quarter of an hour. Probably many of those who both 

 heard the noise and saw the light found it hard to believe 

 in their connection. We are indebted to the care of one 

 observer at Bloomington, who by looking at his clock 

 when the fire-balls were seen, and again when the explo- 

 sion was heard, has added an important particular to our 

 knowledge of this great meteor. 



Nor need we feel much astonishment at the stupendous 

 phenomena, both of light and of sound, which accompany 

 Vhe advent of a splendid and detonating fire-ball. I must 

 here give a few figures which will show how great is the 

 store of energy possessed by a meteor in virtue of the 

 amazing velocity with which it is animated. I shall sup- 

 pose that the material element of the meteor consists of a 

 small mass of stone or of some more or less metallic 

 material which weighs one pound. We shall examine 

 the circumstances under which we must endeavour by 

 mechanical agents to project this small body with the 

 meteoric speed of, let us say, twenty-five miles a second. 

 Our utmost attempt* with a cannon could hardly produce 



