380 



REPORT 1867. 



(fig. 1) is a rough sketch. A break in the streak about the middle of its 



1. 



A 



rig. 



Sorison 



length showed a point Avhcre the fireball, on arriving from A to B, must have 

 undergone a partial extinction for an instant before acquiring again the splen- 

 dour with which I saw it in its course from B to C. At the latter point it 

 disappeared, as shown in the figure, with a shower of sparks at about 31° 

 or 32° above the horizon. 



" Dui-ing the space of eight minutes the train of light preserved its form, 

 while its brilliancy at the same lime gradually decreased. It then grew more 

 diffuse, both lengthening and widening, and undergoing a deformation of its 

 shape at the ends, which folded 

 in upon themselves thus- — (see 

 fig. 2). It still continued to in- 

 crease in length and volume, and 

 to move pretty rapidly towards 

 the west, while the changes of 



its shape continued. At nine o'clock it was still visible with its original 

 brightness, and having now the shape shown in fig. 3, which it preserved 



Fig. 2. 



until it vanished. Its colour at this time resembled that of steam from the 

 funnel of a locomotive engine discoloured by coal-smoke. The point a foi'med 

 the apex of a triangle where two linos of the streak a h, a c met together 

 without any portion of the streak between them. At 9'' 5'" p.m. a star (E) 

 a little over, and to the right of the sunset made its appearance, and by its 

 aid the gradual motion of the streak towards the west was easily perceived. 



" I expected that from the great height at which the streak Avas probably 

 placed, it would still continue to be illuminated for a much longer time, but 

 it gradually disappeared at the same time that the stars began to make their 

 appearance in the sky. 



" At 9^ 15'" P.M. the length from a to R was three times the length which 

 the streak had whenit was fii'st deposited." 



At Yignes (Haute llarne) the meteor appeared in the north-west and 

 moved slowly and nearly horizontally at a small apparent height above the 

 horizon from north-west to south-east. It was brilliant white, and disap- 

 peared in ten or twelve seconds without explosion, leaving a white streak of 

 light, which at first had the appearance represented in fig. 1, which it pre- 



