OF A METEORIC FIRE-BALL. 23 



description of the observations : " The meteor was first seen on the line of Fourth 

 Street, just by the cornice of a building which was noted at the time. Alt. 3° 45'. 

 When 14° 30' from the line of the street, the altitude was 23° 45'. On the line 

 of Broadway it was 52f° to 53°. The meteor passed behind the steeple (about 

 one degree broad) 15° azimuth from the line of Fourth Street, at an altitude of 

 24°." The position on the line of Broadway was determined by the cornice of a 

 building on the N. W. corner of Broadway and Fourth Street, the height of which 

 above the eye of Mr. Prime was, according to the measureriient of Prof. Newton, 

 64 feet, and the horizontal distance 45 feet. This gives an altitude of 54° 63' ; 

 but Mr. Lawson says, that the meteor passed " for a second or two" behind the 

 cornice, which would make the altitude less. In the calculations it is assumed 

 that Fourth Street is perpendicular to Broadway, whose course, according to the 

 map of the Harbor Commissioners, Prof. Newton says, is N. 32° 31' E., thus 

 making that of the former street N. 57° 29' W. But the observations will be 

 better satisfied, if we suppose them to vary a degree or so from right angles, so as 

 to make the latter course about N, 58|° or 59° W. It was visible, according to 

 the estimate of Mr. Prime, about 27 seconds. A correspondent of the New York 

 "World estimated it to be If minutes. Edward L. Gill, No. 281 Hudson Street, 

 estimated it to be 1 minute. Reported time 9h. 40m. to 9h. 45m., more generally 

 the latter. Mr. Prime compares the velocity to that of " a flock of wild pigeons 

 tAvo hundred yards in the air."^ 



Norfolk, Virginia, No. 11. An observer (name not reported) says it " appeared 

 near the northern horizon." 



North Haverstraw, New York, Lat. 41° 15', Lon. 73° 58'. Visible "about 1| 

 minutes." 



Norwalk, Connecticut, Lat. 41° 6', Lon. 73° 24'. It is stated, in an article in 

 the New York Herald, that a sailor saw it pass vertically over his vessel, on Long 

 Island Sound, near this place. 



Normch, Connecticut, Lat. 41° 33', Lon. 72° 7'. Visible " a full minute" — 

 " disappeared at a point about 15° east of the planet Mars." 



Oberlin, Ohio, Nos. 73, 113, 114, 124, and 137. Communicated by Prof. J. H. 

 Fairchild, as follows : " I am sorry that we have no exact measurements upon the 

 altitude of the meteor. I had myself the pleasure of a fair view of it through its 

 entire course along our sky, but did not think to raise the question of altitude 

 until the next day. Prof Morgan and myself were standing at the corner of 

 the street, in conversation — my face toward the northwest. To my observation, 

 the meteor did not rise from the horizon, but burst into view in the northwest, in 

 the constellation Ursa Major, below the ' dipper.' Its altitude could not have 



* According to the calculated path, the meteor passed the meridian of New York at 9h. 4Tin. 

 51 sec. — the interval between Mr. Prime's first and last observation was 50 seconds ; and the apparent 

 velocity the same as the pigeons would have at the distance of 200 yards, if flying at the rate of 

 about 80 miles per hour. If the whole visible arc was passed over in 21 seconds, the pigeons would 

 have to fly about 150 miles an hour in order to have the same apparent velocity as the meteor. 



