On the Meteors of 13th November, 1833. 141 
per regions of the atmosphere ;* for, although the wind at the sur- 
face was at that time in the opposite direction, namely, from west to 
east, yet counter currents of wind are known sometimes to exist at 
different elevations. But it would be very remarkable that the pro- 
gress of the wind westward should exactly keep pace with the revolu- 
tion of the earth in the opposite direction ; and it is, moreover, incon- 
ceivable that the wind should blow with such a velocity,—a veloci- 
ty which, in our latitude, is nearly seven hundred and fifty miles, an 
hour, while the most violent hurricanes rarely exceed one hundred 
miles an hour. 
It has also been supposed that the meteors appeared to radiate from 
a fixed point in the heavens, only because their lines of direction were 
parallel to the magnetic meridian, and their inclination in the direction 
of that meridian such as to make appear to converge towards the pole 
of the dipping needle.+ 
At the time when the attention of most of those who observed the 
phenomenon, was first directed to it, the position of the radiant point 
was in the same part of the heavens as the magnetic pole. But at 
half past five, the azimuth of the radiant point was, at New Haven, 
about 50 degrees, and at six it was 25 degrees, while that of the 
magnetic meridian Is less than 5 degrees. But at 7 o’clock the same 
radiant point was nearly on the meridian: hence it could have had 
no fixed relation to the meridian of the place, as the magnetic pole 
has. 
That the source of the meteors did not partake of the earth’s rota- 
tion, but that it existed in space in such a manner that places lying 
westward of each other came successively under it by the diurnal 
revolution, may be inferred from the fact, that the phenomenon, at 
any given stage, as at the maximum, for example, occurred nearly at 
the same hour of the mght, at places differing greatly in longitude. 
For, suppose that the meteors descended from the atmosphere like 
a shower of rain; and first, let the descent be at the same moment 
of absolute time. ‘Then the occurrence would have been at an ear- 
lier hour of the night to places lying westward, by an hour for every 
15 degrees of longitude. The maximum which was at 4 o’clock at 
New Haven, would have’ been at 3 o’clock in the western part of 
* See Professor Caswell’s observations in the Providence Journal. 
t See Professor Hitchcock’s remarks in the last No. of this Journal. 
