and on Shooting Stars in general 231 



observed in a vertical plane, and no part of that observed in a hor- 

 izontal plane. 



The meteor whose phenomena I have thus attempted to ana- 

 lyze, although certainly very remarkable, was not unlike some 

 others on record. In the London Philosophical Transactions for 

 1759, is an account of a meteor which appeared in Great Britain, 

 Nov. 26, 1758. It moved in a direction N. W. by N., describing 

 a path of about 400 miles. It shot obliquely downwards, being 

 from 90 to 100 miles high at its origin, and from 26 to 32 at its 

 termination. Its velocity was computed at 30 7niles per second. 

 Its diameter was estimated at certainly not less than half a mile, 

 and probably greater. Its path deviated sensibly from a straight 

 line, and a report, like a clap of thunder, was heard from it several 

 minutes after the meteor disappeared. In the Philosophical Trans- 

 actions for 1784, are several notices of a meteor seen in England, 

 August 18, 1783. Its direction was nearly S. S. E. Its path was 

 computed to have been at least 1000 miles in length, sensibly 

 crooked, though nearly parallel with the surface of the earth, and 

 elevated more than 50 miles. Its diameter was about half a mile, 

 and velocity not less than twenty miles pe?^ second. A number of 

 minutes after the meteor's disappearance, there was heard a rum- 

 bling noise like that of distant thunder. Both of these meteors 

 broke into several fragments, which falling behind, formed a pe- 

 culiar train. They appear to have been quite similar to the me- 

 teor of May 18th, and as the fact of a rumbling noise succeeding 

 their appearance seems to be well attested in both cases, it is a 

 little remarkable that nothing of the kind was noticed in the late 

 meteor. It is doubtful, however, whether any observer watched 

 long enough to be able to decide that no such report succeeded. 



It may be useful to give here a summary of our knowledge re- 

 specting common shooting stars, that we may decide whether all 

 these meteors are to be ranked in the same class. In the year 

 1798, Benzenberg and Brandes undertook in concert a series of ob- 

 servations on shooting stars near Gottingen, in Germany. They 

 first took stations five and a half English miles from each other, 

 at which they observed simultaneously several nights. After 

 three nights' watching, finding their stations too near each other, 

 they removed one of them to the distance of nine and a third 

 English miles. On comparing their observations, they found 

 twenty-two which had probably been seen at both stations, and 

 of which they were able to compute the height for at least a part 



