4 ON THE ORBIT AND PHENOMENA 



passed in range of the topmost branch — in this I cannot be mistaken more than 

 half a degree of altitude. But this was near 20° east of the line you designate in 

 your letter, and I regret that I cannot give you the elevation on that line, but I 

 prefer to give facts, and you can dravi^ your own conclusions." The altitude at 

 this point was about 15°, and the azimuth "by compass, S. 35° E.," to which add 

 5° 2' for magnetic variation. 



Baltimore, Maryland, Nos. 32 and 88. Observed by Rev. Henry M. Harman, 

 from a point eleven miles southwest of Baltimore. The latitude and longitude of 

 the place are given in Table II, and are his estimates. No. 32 was observed through 

 an opening between two trees, and the azimuth was measured by the compass, 

 2° 45' being allowed by him for magnetic variation. He says: "The altitude 

 of the meteor changed but slightly in a few degrees, as it was almost parallel to 

 the horizon. I think its altitude when IQf E., might be put down approximately 

 at 15°." 



Barnegat, New Jersey, No. 7, See Seneca. 



Bay Ridge (near Brooklyn), Long Island. The writer of an article signed 

 " T. T.," in the New York Independent, No. 608, says the meteor was -first seen 

 about W.N.W. at an altitude of about 15° above the horizon; that after about 20 

 seconds it exploded ; then approached nearly overhead, and that the whole duration 

 was about one and a half minutes.^ 



Bedford, Long Island, No. 211. The observer at this place (name not ascer- 

 tained) says : " It hardly attained an elevation of 45°," and that an explosion was 

 heard about 1^ minutes after it burst.^ 



Boston, Massachusetts, Lat. 42° 21', Lon. 71° 4'. According to one account, 

 the time of the meteor's passage was "about 10 o'clock." Another account says 

 it was 9h. 56m.* 



Branford, Connecticut, No. 27. Observed by C. E. Button, who says in a letter 

 to Prof Newton, of Yale College : "The first notice I received of the meteor was a 

 bright glimmer in the horizon at a point a little west of N.W. Soon after it rose 

 to view." It made its appearance near the feet of the Lynx, and moved in a direct 

 line through the Great Bear, not quite touching the stars of the dipper ; through 

 the constellation Bootes, a little south of Arcturus, through the upper portion of 

 Ophiuchus." "Second explosion took place nearly overhead." He says that the 

 interval between the two explosions was about ten seconds, and the whole time of 

 flight "75 to 80 seconds;" also, that a report was heard "about five minutes after 

 the explosion," certainly not less than four.* Another account received from B. 



• According to the calculated path, the altitude, 20 seconds before the first explosion, was but 8°, 

 and the azimuth, N. 61° 885' W. ; while in one and a half minutes afterward the meteor would 

 have reached about Lon. 65-^°, which is further east than it was seen by other reliable observers. 



° According to the calculated path, the meteor was at no time within about 50 miles of Bedford, 

 and it would be impossible for sound to travel over that distance in less than about four minutes. 



' According to the calculated path, the meteor crossed the meridian of Boston State House at 

 9h. 59m. 56 sec. 



■* Tlie calculated path of the meteor fails to satisfy, even approximately, the first part of this descrip- 

 tion — as far as to its passage "through the constellation Bootes." "The feet of Lynx" had passed 



