Miscellanies. 377 



1.' That the meteors of Nov. 13, 1833, had their origin beyond 

 the limits of the atmosphere. This inference was founded en the 

 fact, (confirmed by the united testimony of all who accurately noted, 

 among the fixed stars, the position of the point whence the meteors 

 emanated,) that the source moved along with the stars to the west- 

 ward, and therefore did not partake of the earth's diurnal rotation. 



2. I judged that the matter of which the meteors were constitu- 

 ted was combustible, because we saw it burn ; that it was very light, 

 because in its descent, it was arrested by the atmosphere, in some 

 instances at least, at the height of many miles above the earth ; and 

 that the meteors were in many cases large bodies, because at some 

 distance from the spectator they exhibited a considerable apparent 

 magnitude, occasionally appearing as large as the full moon. Since 

 the meteors, large and small, fell in great numbers, over a great ex- 

 tent of country, I inferred that, were they all collected, and restored 

 to their original situation in space, they would occupy a large field, 

 which might, for convenience' sake, properly enough be denomina- 

 ted the meteoric cloud, — meaning by this phrase simply the collec- 

 tion of meteors, as they existed before they fell to the earth. 



3. As showers of meteors, very similar to each other, occurred 

 on the morning of the 12th of November, 1799, and on the morn- 

 ing of the 13th of November in the years 1831, 1832, and 1833, 

 it was inferred that effects so nearly identical had the same cause, 

 or that the earth, at each of these periods, fell in with the "mete- 

 oric cloud." And since this meeting took place nearly in the same 

 point of the earth's orbit, namely, at that point which it passes over on 

 or about the 13th of November, I judged that the cloud must either 

 have remained stationary in space, or have had a revolution, with a 

 periodical time, which was either the same with that of the earth, or 

 some aliquot part of it, otherwise the two bodies could not have come 

 together the same day on two successive years. The meteoric cloud 

 could not have remained stationary in space, for, if not attracted to 

 some nearer body, it would have made directly for the sun. Its 

 periodic time cannot be the same with that of the earth, for then 

 having once moved together, they would, according to Kepler's law, 

 always have remained together, or nearly so, for the squares of the 

 periodical times being the same, the cubes of the distances, and of 

 course the distances themselves, would have been constantly equal. 

 In order, therefore, to come together at the end of a year, the sup- 

 posed body must make either two, or three, or some other even 



Vol. XXIX.— No. 2, 48 



