140 On the Meteors of 13th November, 1833. 
til it was much larger than the stars, then totally disappear from ten 
to fifteen minutes, and then appear again; but the meteors shot forth 
in greater numbers in the interval between the appearances above 
mentioned.” 
A strong motive for making a digest of the leading facts respect- 
ing the meteors of November 13th, and of similar appearances that 
have occurred at other times, has been, the hope of affording facili- 
ties and materials for those who are better qualified than myself to 
give an explanation of these sublime but mysterious phenomena. 
The solution which men of science may give to the difficulties with 
which this subject is environed, will be looked for with impatience. 
In the mean time, I proceed, with much diffidence, to offer such 
views respecting the causes of the phenomena under consideration, 
as appear to me, in the present state of our knowledge, the most 
satisfactory. 
IV. ExpnLanatTion, 
The principal questions involved in the present inquiry, are the 
following. Was the origin of the meteors within the atmosphere or 
beyond it? What was the height of this place above the surface of 
the earth? By what force were they drawn or impelled towards the 
earth? In what directions did they move? With what velocity 2 
What was the cause of their light and heat? Of what size were the 
larger varieties? At what height above the earth did. they disap- 
pear? What was the nature of the duminous trains, which sometimes 
remained behind? What sort ef bodies were the metecrs them- 
selves—of what kind of matter constituted—and in what manner did 
they exist before they fell to the earth? Finally, what relations did 
the source from which they emanated sustain to our earth? 
1. The Meteors of November 13th, had their origin beyond the 
limits of our atmosphere. 
All bodies near the earth, including the atmosphere itself, have a 
common motion with the earth around its axis from west to east; but 
the radiant point, which indicated the position of the source from 
which the meteors emanated, followed the course of the stars from 
east to west: therefore, it was independent of the earth’s rotation, 
and consequently at a great distance from it, and beyond the limits of 
the atmosphere. 
It has been supposed that this westerly progress of the radiant point 
might be owing to the effects of a strong current of wind, in the up- 
