26 ON THE ORBIT AND PHENOMENA 



the meteor was not seen; but at length, June 8th, 1865, a letter was received by 

 Dr. Andrews, from Dr. Lathrop, from which the following extract was forwarded 

 to the author : " I have seen recently at Port Austin, a Mr. Lamed, proprietor of 

 the large saw-mill there, who informed me that one of his men was fishing on the 

 lake that night, about a mile from the shore, who saw the meteor, and Avas ex^ 

 tremely frightened by the same. According to his statement the meteor was di- 

 rectly over his head. He was under the impression that it would strike him, as it 

 came directly towards him, and hence his fright." Immediately on the receipt of 

 Dr. Andrews' letter, I wrote to Mr. Larned, who, in his reply, gave the following 

 additional particulars : " The men were returning from the fishing-ground as near 

 9 o'clock P. M.^ as they could judge, and when about four miles northwest of 

 Point an Barque, they saw the meteor coming, they say, from a point a little south 

 of east (!), and passing midway between them and the Point (au B.). It appeared 

 to them (one says as large as a shanty) 20 by 30 feet in size, and made a hissing 

 noise, and emitted sparks in passing. They say it moved through the air in an 

 u.ndulatory course, being, as they supposed, sometimes within 20 feet of the water, 

 and then again two or three hundred feet from it. It was seen also by the fisher- 

 men at Pigeon Eiver and the Au Sable River (40 miles across the bay). Our men 

 think they saw it from 3 to 5 minutes. They were much excited, and had the 

 ropes over the sides of the boat, ready for a bath if it came too near." 



Pontiac, Michigan, Nos. 2 and 84. The observer, under the signature C. H. B., 

 in a newspaper report, says: "At about 12 minutes past 9 (Cleveland time)^ I saw 

 a meteor apparently coming towards me from a little north of west, and but a few 

 degrees above the horizon, emerging from the ' heat lightning,' which at that time 

 illuminated the entire western horizon." He says further, that " throughout its 

 entire course it seemed to ricochet or bound through the air ;" that it disappeared 

 '• some 5° above the eastern horizon, nearly 1| minutes from its first appearance."* 



Port Chester, New York, Lat. 41° 1', Lon. 73° 42'. " Passed almost verti- 

 cally, and exploded when almost at the meridian."* 



Poughkeepsie, New York, Lat. 41° 41', Lon. 73° 55'. Reported time Sh. SOm.^ 



Providence, Rhode Island, No. 223. Communicated to the Providence Journal. 

 The writer says: "It appeared to be double, and to pass in a direction nearly 

 parallel with the horizon, and elevated about 35° or 40° above it. An observer 

 who was in Hope Street at the time, saw it explode when nearly south of him." 

 Time 9h. 57m." 



Quincy, Massachusetts, Lat. 42° 15', Lon. 71° 2'. Reported time lOh. 2m.« 



' Calculated time of meridian passage " 4 miles N. W. of Point au Barque, 91i. 10m. 55 sec." 



=• Calculated time of meridian passage at Pontiac, by Cleveland time, 9h. 16m. 21 sec, or at 9h. 

 10m. 5 sec, by local time. 



^ By calculation the meteor was seen for 34 seconds after it passed the meridian, and if it was 

 seen as long before, the whole time would be Im. 8 sec. 



* According to the calculated path, it passed about 4 miles from the zenith, and exploded 2 sec- 

 onds before it reached that point. 



5 Calculated time of meridian passage at Poughkeepsie, 9h. 48m. 15 sec. ; at Providence, 9h. 58m. 

 27 sec. ; at Quincy, lOh. Om. 5 sec. 



