OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 



87 



II. Large Meteors. 



1822, October 16tli, evening, London. The following extract of a note in 

 Sir John Herschel's MS. Journal refers apparently to a large fireball of which 

 no mention is found in Mr. Greg's and other Catalogues of the appearances 

 of unusually brilliant meteors. — " 1822, October 16th, Wednesday. This 

 evening, walking home from the Haymarket to Downing-street, being at the 

 Horse Guards at 8^ 37"" p.m., saw a great light, Uke the moon breaking out 

 among the clouds, and a fiery appearance like the bursting of a rocket, not 

 globiilar, but in ill-defined masses. Direction exactly before me, as I walked 

 towards Westminster from Charing Cross. Altitude about 15° or 1G°; sky 

 overcast ; a mizzling rain and fog. No explosion heard ; ? its nature, if 

 meteoric?— (J- F. W. H.)" 



1860, July 20th, 9" 34'° 33' to 9" SG" 24' p.m. (Washington mean time), 

 United States, America. An exhaustive investigation of the path of this 

 large meteor, from a comparison of observations at more than 200 places in 

 the United States and the adjacent parts of Canada, by Dr. J. H. Coffin, is 

 contained in the ' Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge,' vol. xvi. for 1870. 

 The meteor was first reported to have been seen moving eastward from a 

 point nearly over the western shore of Lake Michigan, westward from which 

 it might perhaps have been observed had not a cloudy state of the sky 

 prevailed at the time throughout that region. Along the entire remaining 

 portion of its visible track of nearly, or quite, 1300 miles, it was watched by 

 numerous observers until it disappeared quite out at sea in a south-easterly 

 direction from the island of Nantucket. It was first well observed at Flint, 

 Michigan, between the great Lake of that State and Lake Huron, pursuing 

 from that place and from the remaining points of view along its line of flight 

 an apparently undulating or ricochet motion until it faded from sight, with- 

 out breaking into fragments, towards the eastern horizon. It was accompanied 

 throughout the greater portion of its path by a brilliant train, and followed 

 at a distance of about 1° or 2° by a smaller fireball of the same dazzling 

 white colour as the head ; while near the end of its course sparks or flakes 

 of red and pink colour were cast off by the nucleus in considerable numbers. 

 The length of time that it was visible at one station, depending upon the 

 length of the arc which was observed, varied from half (or rather less than 

 half) a minute to about two minutes ; and the whole time occupied by the 



Fig. 6. 



meteor in its visible track was about three minutes. At the points B, C 

 (see fig. 6), in long, west from Greenwich about 77° and 74°, and espe- 

 cially at the latter point, distinct ruptures of the meteor were observed, 

 corresponding to which the real height and direction of its coiirse underwent 

 a sensible alteration. The actual height of the meteor when it was first 

 well observed in long. 85i° west from Greenwich (at a, fig. 6), at Flint, 



