On the Meteors of 13th JVovember. 371 



rectly in the axis of vision, it would have appeared and vanished 

 like a star without any apparent motion. Those which were near 

 the axis of vision, would present the short trace and gentle motion 

 of the nebula described above ; but according as that distance be- 

 came greater, the apparent motion would be more rapid and the 

 trace longer ; and all the traces would be seen in directions diver- 

 ging from the point in which the axis of vision met the heavens. 



These bodies did not seem to bear affinity to those meteors which 

 revolving around the earth as their primary, become ignited by pass- 

 ing into the atmosphere, and explode throwing down masses to the 

 surface ; but to those shooting stars and fire balls which are often 

 seen in the sky in the evening, and which, I am now persuaded, 

 might all be found capable of being referred as to their line of mo- 

 tion to a determinate point. 



The number of shooting bodies which passed in the heavens on 

 the morning of the 13lh inst., must be the subject of conjecture to 

 a considerable extent : I should not deem it extravagant to suppose 

 ten thousand to a single hour, during the period of my observations. 



I will only add, that the morning was cool, and probably not far 

 from freezing temperature ; and there was a moderate breeze from 

 the north of west. The day preceding had been marked by sud- 

 den and violent gusts of westerly wind, one of which threw over 

 and sunk opposite to this place a two masted vessel, with such sud- 

 deness, that all on board perished. 



I am, Sir, yours with sincere respect, Alex. C. Twining. 



P. S. Since writing the above, I have accidentally seen in a 

 volume of Maskelyne's Observations, that the streams of a bright au- 

 rora in 1769, Oct. 24th, at 2lh 58' sidereal time, converged to a 

 point about 21° East of South in azimuth, and 17jfrom the Ze- 

 nith, which he remarks to be about the magnetic pohy 



4. Phenomena as observed at Annapolis, (Lat. 39° N., Lon. 

 76° 43' W.) Communicated to Professor Olmsted by the writer, Rev. 

 Dr. Humphreys, President of St. John's College. 



" A remarkable phenomenon of shooting stars was seen at Annap- 

 olis, about 4 or 5 o'clock, on the morning of Wednesday, the 13th in- 

 stant ; the number of the meteors was far greater than in any former 

 instance ever observed by the writer. They all appeared to move 

 from a common centre, at or near the zenith ; and at times, they 

 completely filled the whole heavens, particularly towards the East, 

 with beautiful brilliant streams of light, extending to the horizon. 

 It is not meant that all the trains actually extended from the ze- 

 nith to the horizon 5 but that the lines of light were so directed, that 

 if produced, they would all converge to a point in the zenith. Their 

 appearance was so incessant during some part of the phenomenon, 



