On the Meteors of loth JVovemler. 367 



in consequence of the change of temperature out of doors during the 

 night, 1 saw but indistinctly, and took my box to strike a light with- 

 out seeing or thinking more of the phenomenon, until I went down 

 to the parlor twenty minutes before six o'clock ; except that twice I 

 saw a very sudden and bright glare of light, which, at the time, I 

 supposed must have come from some lamp or fire in the house op- 

 posite. On opening one of the parlor shutters, I was surprised at 

 seeing innumerable meteors similar to those commonly called shoot- 

 ing stars. They were moving in a direction downward, and 1 should 

 say, according to the best judgment I could form, were falling about 

 half as thick as the flakes of snow in one of our common snow falls, 

 with intervals of a few seconds, when there was not so many. 



I stood observing the phenomenon till fifteen minutes before six, at 

 which time, the meteors being fewer, I attempted to count a portion 

 of them. In the part to which my attention was confined, and which 

 was perhaps a tenth part or rather less of the horizon, I counted 

 650 stars, during the fifteen minutes before six o'clock. They fell so 

 fast and thick, however, that I supposed 1 was not able to enumerate 

 thus distinctly, more than two thirds the number of those which ac- 

 tually fell during that time in the space to which my attention was di- 

 rected. If I am correct in my estimation, this would show the num- 

 ber of meteors falling during the fifteen minutes, to have been more 

 than 8660. At 6 o'clock, I went to the top of the house. The phe- 

 nomenon was now beginning to cease. During the first fifteen min- 

 utes after six, the number which fell in the southern half of the heav- 

 ens from the zenith downwards was 98. The last fell ten minutes 

 before sunrise. 



In the course of this time there were two exceedingly bright me- 

 teors. I did not see them, as they did not make their appearance in 

 the part to which my attention was directed ; but the steeple of the 

 neighboring church was reddened by the light of them ; and I then 

 supposed that the glare of light in my chamber, which I had before 

 attributed to a lamp or fire in the house opposite, must have proceed- 

 ed from meteors. 



The sky was clear excepting on the verge of the horizon, where 

 in the east, there were a few thin streaks and small specks of clouds, 

 and in the south and southeast, the round heads of a range of dark 

 heavy clouds were just visible above the horizon. — There was how- 

 ever, a vapor in the atmosphere, visible round the horizon, which in 

 the southeast assumed a very beautiful appearance during ten minutes, 

 about half an hour before sunrise. The thermometer yesterday at 

 2 P. M. was 63 deg. ; this morning at 4 o'clock, it was 39 cleg. There 

 was but Httle wind, and this from the west. The direction in which 

 the meteors moved was almost directly downward, and not oblique as 

 usually seen, except in two instances, when the course was horizon- 

 tal, nearly in a straight line, and from northeast to southwest, and these 

 two meteors were high and small. Generally the meteors appeared 



