214 IN STARRY REALMS. 



otherwise appear to be paradoxical, and that is the asser- 

 tion by Mr. Booth at Leeds that the meteor was rather 

 swift, while Mr. Denning from Bristol assures us that the 

 motion was very slow. The apparent discrepancy vanishes 

 when we see how the course of the meteor actually lies. 

 The observer from Leeds sees the celestial rocket moving 

 squarely across his line of sight from right to left. He 

 could hardly have observed it under more favourable cir- 

 cumstances so far as the direction of the motion is con* 

 cerned. But to the observer at Bristol the aspect of the 

 meteor's path was wholly different. The object was mov- 

 ing towards him. In fact, if we continue the line of flight 

 sufficiently far, we find it sloping downwards to the Bristol 

 Channel, and finally touching earth in Devonshire. From 

 Bristol therefore the track was extremely foreshortened ; 

 and consequently during its whole flight the meteor ap- 

 peared from Bristol to traverse but a comparatively small 

 part of the heavens : to an observer there this motion 

 .would seem very slow when compared with such a view 

 of the object as was presented from Leeds. It will also 

 be noted that at the centre of its journey the meteor must 

 have been about 200 miles distant from Bristol, and the 

 greatness ot this distance is another reason why it should 

 appear to move slowly. 



The spectacle was witnessed by Mr. Backhouse at 

 Sunderland; he describes the meteor to have been as bright 

 as the star Sirius, and it appeared near the constellation 

 of Orion. It would lead me too far to pursue this matter, 

 so I shall dismiss it with the remark that these facts can 

 be shown to tally with the path ascertained by the 

 observations at Leeds and at Bristol. 



