l^ ONTHEORBITANDPHENOMENA 



" 2d. Its maximum elevation I thought to be in the N. E., near Cassiopeia. At 

 the moment, my attention was so completely engrossed by the peculiar features of 

 the meteor itself, that I did not see any stars whatever ; but immediately after it 

 had disappeared, and before changing my position, I endeavored to fix* its path 

 amono- the stars, and concluded that it passed very nearly in the line of the tioo 

 loioest hrigU stars in Cassiopeia, if anything different, perhaps a little below them. 

 I afterwards conversed with Mr. Aertsen, whose view was obstructed during the 

 whole flight, and he thought it passed just about in the line of the above-mentioned 

 stars. 



" 3d, As to the approximate point of disappearance I can speak more confidently. 

 I was standing on the roof of a shed at W. Gummere's, directly opposite Mr. R. 

 Aertsen, and the meteor disappeared behind a cloud (from which flashes of light- 

 ning were seen directly after, making the existence of the cloud certain) between 

 the cupola of the Town Hall and the N. E. side of Mr. Gummere's house, which 

 limited my view; and as this space subtended an angle of only 13°, I could not 

 well be many degrees in error as to the actual point of disappearance. I noted the 

 relative positions of this point and the cupola at the time, with a view to subsequent 

 measurement, and upon taking a theodolite to the spot, and directing the telescope 

 to the point as near as possible, I found the result to be — 



"Azimuth (true) S. 81° E. Altitude 5° 27. 



" We afterward took the instrument to Mr. Aertsen, who went to the spot where 

 he stood, and fixed the telescope. The readings were — 



"Azimuth (true) S. 81|° E. Altitude 5° 32'. 



" I o'ot two of my friends to try the same instrument. They had had an equally 

 good view, but had not noted the positions at the time, with any view to measure- 

 ment, and did not feel at all confident (as Mr. A. and myself were) of being able 

 to give tolerable results. They were — 



"1. Azimuth S. 88° 30'. Altitude 9°. 

 "2. Azimuth S. 85° 45'. Altitude 8°." 



" 4th. As to the time occupied by the flight, the first remark I made was that it 

 exceeded half a minute, notwithstanding that I was fairly on my guard against the 

 tendency to overestimate short intervals. — I had nothing definite to determine it by; 

 but it fortunately hai^pened that some of our party were in motion during nearly 

 the whole time, and this afforded evidence of a positive character." Mr. Marsh 

 here gives an accurate drawing, showing the exact plan of Mr. Gummere's house 

 and the adjacent grounds, and the route taken by two different persons around 

 the house, in order to keep sight of the meteor. One went 240 feet, and the other 

 220, and, at his request, both repeated their respective movements, while he carefully 

 noted the time by a watch. The results, after allowing 5 seconds for time spent in 

 viewing the meteor after they stopped, were 40 seconds and 45 seconds.^ 



* According to calculations, as shown in Table II, Mr. Aertsen first saw the meteor at 9h.42ni. 31 sec, 

 Mr. Marsh at 9h. 42m. 58 sec, and it went out of sight of the latter at 9h. 43m. 40 sec. ; so that it 

 was visible to Mr. Marsh for 42 seconds, and to Mr. Aertsen probably for more than a minute. It 

 is probable, too, that those who went around the house did not see it sooner than Mr. Marsh did, as 

 the house was, at first, directl}^ between them and the meteor. 



