28 ON THE ORBIT AND PHENOMENA 



gaze ; but after it passed behind the dense cloud, and having waited a little I was 

 about to start, it reappeared near the horizon. There were no stars visible by 

 which I could fix its point of appearance, or its track; but its course seemed to 

 me very nearly east — perhaps a little south of east.^ 



Royalton, New York, Lat. 43° 6', Lon. 78° 40'. Observed by Lewis Swift, who 

 says that the meteor passed from W.N.W. to E.S.E. " a little south of the zenith,"^ 

 and that it was in sight probably about IJ minutes. 



Sag Harbor, New York, Nos. 106, 147, 153, 212, and 231. Communicated by 

 Ephraim N. Byram, by whom also the measurements were made of positions 

 estimated by the observer, John C. Smith. These estimates and measurements 

 were kindly made at the request of the author, more than two months after the 

 meteor appeared, and must of course be less reliable than if they had been made 

 at the time. 



Saratoga, New York, Lat. 43° 6', Lon. 74°. Eeported time 10 o'clock.^ 



Search (steamer). No. 3. Communicated by Capt. George G. Meade, Superin- 

 tendent of the U. S. Lake Survey, and Lieut. Orlando M. Poe, Engineer and 

 Astronomer, from observations made by the latter. After remarking that he had 

 a very distinct view of the meteor at times, though the sky was so much obscured 

 by light clouds as to render it impossible to project its path upon the heavens by 

 reference to the stars, Lieut. Poe says that when first seen in a direction between 

 E. by S. and E.S.E. , " it appeared to be a brilliant ball, of one-half the moon's 

 diameter, and at an altitude of about 40°. The direction of its path was from 

 N.W. to S.E., and extended through nearly 10° of arc. It brilliantly illuminated 

 the clouds in its vicinity, and moved very slowly, occupying about 20 seconds of 

 time in passing over the space estimated above.* It did not, while visible to me, 

 break into fragments." 



Seneca (barque), No. 11. Observed by Capt. Feinhagen of this vessel, off 

 Barnegat light. Another account of this observation adds that the motion was 

 " tremulous," and the duration about 30 seconds. Time 9h. 45m. 



Sneeclen's Landing, New York, Lat. 41° 3', Lon. 74°. Reported in the New 

 York Evening Post to have passed almost vertically over this place.* 



Southampton, New York, Nos. 66, 70, and 149. Copied from a newspaper 

 report, in which the observer, under the signature " H," says of the meteor, that, 

 " At about 9h. 50m.'' o'clock it was seen about 25° high to shoot upwards, like a 

 rocket, from the constellation Leo Major ;" that it " passed near Corona Borealis, 

 crossing the meridian a little south of the zenith;" that it separated when near the 



* According to the calculated path, the course of the meteor, when it passed the meridian of Romeo, 

 was S. 78° 12' E. 



^ According to the calculated path, the meteor passed about 20 miles south of the zenith. 

 " Calculated time of meridian passage 9h. 4'7m. 49 sec. 



* According to the calculated path, the apparent are described in 20 seconds was over 30°, and the 

 meteor, at the end of that interval, was within 10° of the eastern horizon. 



^ According to the calculated path, the meteor passed 9 or 10 miles N.E. from the zenith. 

 " Calculated time of meridian passage at Southampton, 9h. 54m. 29 sec. 



