OBSERVATIONS OP LUMINOUS METEORS. 



369 



and his clescrii)tion of its appearance differing widely from that of any large 

 fireball hitherto observed, it is questioned by Mr. Meldrum if the object which 

 appeared to Mr. Wright may not have been the moon itself, flashing forth, per- 

 haps suddenly from behind clouds, and by their motion appearing to descend 

 among them. A similar meteor, Mr. Wright adds, was seen at the Mauritius 

 about a year previously ; but the entire disk of that meteor was luminous, and 

 the moon, at the time when the meteor presented itself, was not shining. 



The following description (on the same page of the above 'JS'otices') refers 

 to the bright meteor of the 3rd of November, seen at Glasgow and elsewhere 

 in Scotland at half-past five o'clock in the evening, which appears, from this 

 account, to have been aerolitic or of a detonating kind. Mr. II. D. Penny 

 writes thus from Nairn to Mr. Duncan : — " I was coming up the street at 

 5.30 P.M. on that day, when, without any warning, I seemed enveloped iu 

 flame ; on looking to the sky it seemed illuminated, and continued so for two 

 or three seconds, so brightly that I had no difficulty in seeing the smallest 

 stone on the ground. For a second or so the illumination waned, and then 

 it shone for a second brighter than before. I hurried home to see the exact 

 time of the circumstance ; and being about 100 yards or so from the house, 

 I heard, on coming at the gate, a low rumbling noise as of distant thunder 

 away to the south-west. I then concluded that it was thunder, and remained 

 outside for half an hour in the expectation of hearing more, but in vain, as 

 thunder is rather uncommon iu this quarter at this season." On making 

 inquiries respecting it, Mr. Penny found that other persons, a few miles 

 from Nairn, more fortunate than himself, had observed the fireball itself ; and 

 the description given to him by one of them is as follows : — "He saw a largo 

 ball of fire, about the size of the full moon, coming up from the east-south- 

 east, about twenty degrees from the horizon, and gliding along comparatively 

 slowly, so that he could distinctly discern it. The ball was of the colour of 

 intensely heated iron, and had a tail attached to it. For the two or three 

 seconds that it remained in sight, the sky was so lighted up that he could 

 have picked a pin from the ground. It then seemed to liim to descend 

 behind some of the hills to the south-west of him ; and for a second the sky 

 was darkened, when all at once the light burst forth stronger than before ; 



1873. 2 B 



