A CATALOGUE OF OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 379 



able Professor Hagenbach to fix the summit of its apparent patb at that place 

 at 12|° above the horizon, 45° west from north, in the direction of Dimkirk, 

 Oise, Aisne, Meuse, and Marne in the North of Erauce. 



The meteor was seen in daylight at Paris proceeding almost horizontally 

 at an altitude of about 22!j°, from 3° west to 34° east of north (Comptes 

 Kendus, 24th June, 1867)*. Comparing together the observations at Basle 

 and Paris, Professor Hagenbach concludes that the meteor moved from over 

 Dunkirk to over the neighbourhood of Cambray, in the De'partement du Nord 

 at a height of between sixty-five and eighty-five miles above the earth in a 

 direction from north-west towards south-east. 



The foUowing observation at St. Quentin, in Aisne, twenty-five miles south 

 of Cambray, shows that the meteor continued its course still further towards 

 the east, and probably passed a short distance south of St. Quentin; and of 

 the course assigned to it by Professor Hagenbach. 



"A very small point of crimson-red light 

 the east and proceeding rapidly north- 



was first seen, appearing in 



Its duration was about 



wards, as from a to i in the figiu'e 

 (No. 1). It then changed its appear- 

 ance to a flame-colour, and suddenly 

 altered its direction at an obtuse angle 

 descending towards the west of north, 

 as from b to c, and gradually became extinguished, 

 two seconds. After its disap- 

 pearance there remained in the 

 sky, traced with wonderful di- 

 stinctness, a bright white streak 

 in the form of fig. 2. In the 

 course of ten minutes its lines 

 grew wider and became diffuse."' 

 (Eeport of Hormisdas Leblanc, 

 Mayor of St. Quentin, to M. W. de Fonvielle.) 



The sudden change of course, noticed by M. Leblanc, was probably attended 

 by a detonation ; for at Braine siu- Viste, near Soisson, in Aisne, about thirty 

 miles south of St Quentin, M. Ed. Lainney reports to M. de Fonvielle : — 



" Walking in the fields at about eight o'clock on the evening of the 11th 

 of June, we heard a heavy report like that of a distant mine exploding, or of 

 a battery of cannon fired oft' in the distance. Twenty miles from this place, at 

 Fresnes, a luminous meteor was seen moving from N.W. to S.E., audit burst 

 with a loud explosion." 



Distant views of the meteor were obtained in the Cote d'Or and in Haute 

 Marne, which confirm the other accounts of the long duration of the smoke- 

 like train, and afi'ord some more details of the position of the meteor. The 

 first of these reports is by M. L. Roussy, chronometer-maker to the Toulouse 

 Observatory, whose acquaintance with the writings of M. Petit on the sub- 

 ject of luminous meteors led him to observe the phenomenon with particular 

 attention. 



"I was in the train which had just left the station near Dijon (Cote d'Or) 

 returning to Paris, and leaning against the window on the right of the train, 

 when at 8'' 9" (Paris time) I perceived a luminous streak of very intense 

 light preceded by an advancing fireball, of which the accompanying figure 



* M. J. J. Silbermann, who saw the meteor from the College de France, tliought that 

 its altitude was "about 60°" (Letter to M. de FonTielle); and other accounts at Paris 

 assign intermediate heights to these. 



