OBSERVATIONS OP LUMINOUS METEORS. 243 



The cmissiou of gaseous constituents by the action of solar heat may explain 

 the loss of tail and the diminution of brilliancy observed in the case of several 

 comets in their successive revolutions ; and their final disappearance from sight 

 will follow as an inevitable consequence, the number of revolutions necessary 

 to discharge the gases depending chiefly on their size and the nearness of their 

 approach to the sun at their perihelia. When a meteorite enters our atmo- 

 sphere, the gases -which are evolved from it by the heat which is liberated 

 must greatly contribute to increase the intensity of that heat, while the 

 sudden expansion which these gases experience must constitute the leading 

 cause of the violent disruption of these masses. 



1875, March 31st, between 3 and 4 p.m. — Zsadany, Temesvar, 

 the Banat, Hungary*. 



No luminous meteor appears to have beeu observed at the time these stones 

 fell ; tlio day was briglit and sunny and the sky cloudless. A sound as of 

 platoon-firing was hoard, and a small shower of black stones descended, some 

 ■within the area of the village of Zsadany in the courtyards of the inhabitants, 

 others in the open fields. They did not fall together, but at slight intervals, 

 which appear to have been at least one third of a minute. Some were picked 

 up immediately they reached the ground, and were found to be cold. It may 

 be mentioned here that the stones which fell at Dhurmsala, in Indiat (1860; 

 July 14th), are stated to have been so cold that they could not be held in the 

 hand. 



Sixteen stones in all have been found ; the largest, having the size of a goose's 

 egg and weighing about 152 grammes, is preserved in the National Museum 

 at Pest ; the remainder have an average size of a walnut, and their aggregate 

 weight is nearly 400 grammes. Memak has sent a preliminary report de- 

 scribing the seven largest stones, illustrated with photographs of the four most 

 interesting masses, to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The investigation 

 of this aerolite has been undertaken by Wartha and Krcnncr ; the former wiU 

 subject it to analysis, the latter examine its mineralogical characters. 



I learn, from an obliging letter received from Prof. Szabo, that these meteor- 

 ites have a coarse-grained texture and are somewhat friable, and that they 

 contain nickel- iron and scales of graphite. 



1875, April 14th, 0.30 a.m. — Haddon, Grenville Co., Victoria, Australia?. 



A very brilliant meteor appeared from a bank of cloud about 20° above the 

 N.W. horizon ; it became elongated and pear-shaped as it traversed the 

 heavens from W. to E., attaining an altitude of 50° on passing the zenith, 

 where the nucleus appeared to break up and roll on in misshapen spheres of 

 various sizes. On reaclnng a point within 20° of the N.E. horizon, the light 

 became more intense and then the meteor disappeared. Eight or ten seconds 

 later, reverberations as of thunder were distinctly heard. An eye-witness 



* Egyek'rtus ts Magyar Uj«ig, 23rd April and June ICth, 1875. 



t W. von Ilaidiuger, Jiilzutigsber. Akad. Wiss.'NVien, xlii. 30.5, xliv. 285. [It was n sxibjcot 

 of frequent remark in conversation by Professor Bi-ayley tbat the only foundation for this 

 statement was a part of the native evidence collected on the occurrence of this stonefall, 

 that the meteorite came " from the abode of snow" — a phrase which, in the native dialect, 

 signifies a " northern direction," by a simple but direct allusion to the snow-topped summits 

 of the Himalayas.— A. S. II.] 



I The Illustrated Australian News, May I7th, 1875, p. G8. — The same extract from this 

 Australian newspaper was also obligingly communicated to the Committee by Mr. W. H. 

 Wood (see the first Appendix of this E«port). 



b2 



