Dr. Walter Flight— On Meteorites. 109 



the house. The supposed " meteorite," which fell in the courtyard 

 of the house, is identified by the Padre Secchi with the ordinary 

 volcanic stones of the district, which is in the neighbourhood of an 

 extinct volcano, and it probably lay (as it is customary to protect 

 them against the force of the wind) upon the tiles of the roof until 

 it was projected from its place by the lightning- stroke. 



1875, December 27th, 9 p.m. — Kansas, 



I have to thank Mr, Irish, C.E., of Iowa City, for two cuttings 

 from newspapers (the Kansas Chief of December 30th, and the 

 Kansas Evening Post of December 29th) recording the fall of a 

 detonating meteor of the above date. It traversed the heavens in 

 a direction from N.W. to S.E., leaving a lurid streak in its wake. 

 Ttie whole heavens were lighted up, and " made all out of doors 

 almost as light as full moonlight." The meteor was of the usual 

 whitish-red colour, and when it exploded the fiery fragments were 

 scattered in all directions. "Perhaps two minutes later, and after 

 all appearance of the meteor had disappeared, the sound of the 

 explosion came like the discharge of a heavy cannon ; or rather one 

 loud explosion, immediately followed by a lighter one like an echo. 

 The explosion jarred houses and rattled windows. The size of the 

 meteor and the terrible force of the explosion may be imagined from 

 the fact that the distance was so great that it required about two 

 minutes for the sound to reach the earth, and the concussion was so 

 plainly felt and heard at that distance. The phenomenon was 

 witnessed over a large extent of country." An observer, writing 

 from Fort Leavenworth, states that it appeared to have its origin in 

 the constellation Cassiopeia, and its course was due east. Mr. Irish 

 states that he has made every effort to secure possession of the 

 meteorites which must have fallen, but has been unsuccessful. The 

 time of flight is estimated to have been from 12 to 15 seconds. 



1875, December 27tli, 9-20 p.m.— State of Missouri, U.S.A. 



I am indebted to Mr. Irish, C.E., of Iowa City, for an interesting 

 description of this detonating meteor, as well as for a map, on which 

 he has traced its course. The point where it was first seen in the 

 zenith is at Thayer, in Nebraska, near the borders of Kansas, and 

 about 120 miles W. of the Missouri Eiver. It was seen by him at 

 Iowa City first as a small meteor, which rapidly became brighter, 

 and was hidden from view when at an altitude of about 40° by a 

 building ; at this moment it gave out a very brilliant quivering 

 flash of light, which illuminated the whole heavens. It appears 

 from Mr. Irish's map to have been seen over a wide area, from Still- 

 water in Minnesota on the north, to Buffalo in Missouri on the south, 

 and as far west as the shores of Lake Michigan. Near the termina- 

 tion of the flight sounds were heard : over Archer, in Nebraska, a 

 rushing roaring sound, as of a mighty wind, was noticed ; at St. 

 Joseph, in Missouri, the first distinct explosion was remarked, and 

 between that town and Livingstone Co. frequent and very heavy 



