THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 75 



Illinois, about lo p.m. with a loud report, and exploded a short dis- 

 tance east of the town. During the night the moon and stars were 

 faintly obscured by a fine rain of ashes and minute cinders, sifting 

 away to a light dust or gray powder. 



On the same date a ball of fire passed over Levis, P. Q., at 

 midnight, with a loud report, but no trace could be found on 

 the ground. 



On May 4th, 1890, a meteor was seen over Hancock, Kossuth, 

 Palo Alto, Clay, Dickinson and Emmett counties, Iowa. It appeared 

 like a large ball of fire at Angora, separatihg into two over that 

 point, and then bursting into fragments, the sound of the explosion 

 being heard three minutes afterwards. Buildings were shaken, win- 

 dows broken, and a quaking of the earth was felt, A column of 

 smoke rose, of dense appearance, as far as the eye could reach to- 

 wards the zenith. 



On February 24th, 1891, a large meteor passed over Portland, 

 Maine, and was supposed to have fallen in Franklin County. 



The London " Standard " of November 22nd, 1882, describing 

 a large meteor which a few days previously passed over the northern 

 sky, says an aurora was unusually bright at the time this strange 

 torpedo-shaped luminous body passed majestically from east to west. 

 It was described as resembling the glow produced by an electric 

 current passing through a vacuum. Coincident with its appearance 

 there was a magnetic storm of remarkable intensity. So violently 

 were the telegraph and telephone wires deranged by the strong earth 

 currents that their working was rendered impossible. American 

 electricians equally experienced this interruption, and it was at the 

 moment when the magnetic storm reached its intensity that the 

 luminous body sailed across the sky. At Sidmouth the aurora was 

 of an exquisite rose pink color. During the passage of the meteor 

 the block signalling apparatus was greatly affected, two separate 

 sections working at the same time, and the needle of the speaking 

 instrument, instead of being read at vertical was obliged to be read 

 at an angle of 45°. The block bells continued to ring during the 

 passage of the object and for some seconds after its disappearance, 

 and the signals were generally disarranged. At the same period 

 very large spots existed on the sun's surface. 



I believe the largest aerolite in any collection is in Brazil, 

 weighing 14,000 lbs. 



