33l Meteoric Observations of'Nov^ ISth, 1834. 



meteors in nine minutes and a half, five in ten minutes, four in ten 

 minutes, &c. And this in about one fifth part of the sky to which 

 we purposely limited our view, whereas on the 13th of Nov. my 

 view was extended over at least one third of the hemisphere. 



They were also similar in kind in their paths being in directions 

 which when produced appeared to meet in very different parts of 

 the heavens. 



I continue the detail of observations, which are however, from 

 the generally unfavorable state of the weather, of inferior interest. 



At 10 P. M. on the I3th. Air 46°, dew point 35|°. Wind W. 

 Light fleeces over the moon. 



Nov. lith. From about 3h 40' to 4/t A. M. a haze obscured 

 small stars to about 20° from the horizon, those of 3rd and 4th 

 magnitude were however distinctly visible. Moon up. Two me- 

 teors in twenty minutes. At 4 o'clock the haze thickened and 

 mottled clouds (dark cumulus) came over from the west. Wind W 

 faint. At about 8 A. M. began to rain. At lOj P. M. Rains, 

 wind W and N W. Air 50°, dew point 45°. 



Nov. 15th. 3 A. M. A white and very thick haze obscured the 

 sky. 11 P. M. Snowing, air 24° dew point 15^°. / 



Nov. I6th. Si A. M. Snowing. 



Nov. 11th. 5 A. M. Cloudy. At 8^ A. M. Hailing, air 31°, 

 dew point 23J, wind N E. ' . 



Nov. 18th. U A. M. Raining. 



Nov. 19th. 1^ A. M. Sky clear, moon up, no meteors visible 

 to S E. in ten minutes. Horizon clouded. Clouds coming up from 

 N W. 3 A. M. Sky covered with dark cumulus. 



The foregoing observations are extracted from my journal, and 

 the comments upon them are introduced for the sake of showing as 

 far as is necessary the train of reasoning which has led to the conclu- 

 sion stated in the beginning of this note. 



It will be interesting to have information on this subject from dif- 

 ferent quarters of our country as having a direct bearing upon the ex- 

 planation of the meteoric phenomenon of last year. 

 Philadelphia, November 21, 1834. 



