134 



REPORT-^--1866. 



with the explosion. At Knyahinya the report was like that of a hundred 

 cannons. 



A dense cloud, ten times the apparent width of the sun, marked the path 

 of the fireball, extending itself towards Unghvar, a distance of twenty-five 

 miles S., 5° W. from EJayahinya ; and it remained visible for fifteen minutes. 

 Two or three minutes after the report was heard, a rattling sound came from 

 the direction of the streak, and labourers at work in the fields saw stones fall. 

 These, when picked up, were ice-cold, and emitted a strong sulphurous odour, 

 that might be perceived at a distance of a mile round the place of fall. At 

 least sixty stones were found, and the largest buried themselves obliquely at 

 an angle of 30° or 35° to the horizon. Thirty-five fragments of the aerolite 

 were sent by the Commissioners to Pesth. 



A perfectly incrusted stone was forwarded to Dr. Haidinger at Vienna, 

 who cites the stonefall of Knyahinya, with that of Stannern, as a proof that 

 aerolites, in their native orbits, occasionally consist of a swarm of separate 

 stones, bound together by their mutual gravitation, while yet revolving in an 

 orbit, like one body round the sun. The stone is marked by depressions upon 

 its surface, like a perfect aerolite, and in its interior parts presents a marbled 

 appearance, like the stones of ParnaUee and Assam. The specific gravity is 

 3-520. 



lY. 



(1.) MeteDric showers of October, 1864, and 1865 compared with previous 



Meteoric showers. 

 The exact date of the October shower is not fixed, but varies between the 

 15th and 26th of October. On the 18th of October 1864, and again on the 

 20th of October 1865, shower-meteors were observed at Hawkhurst, diverg- 

 ing from a particularly weU defined radiant, at v Orionis, which preserved its 

 place almost fixed in two successive years. The following is a comparison 

 of the meteors mapped with those of other showers. The Table shows that 

 a large percentage of the meteors mapped in the October shower were far 

 more conformable to a radiant-point than was the case with the meteors in 

 any of the other well-known and previously-examined showers. The initials 

 M. N. refer to the Eoyal Astronomical Society's ' Monthly Notices.' 



