Respiration of Plants and Animals. 27 



hsemoglobin of animals, acting like it as an ozone-transferrer. 

 It cannot, however, yet be regarded as more than fair pre- 

 sumption that this substance is that with whicli oxygen 

 becomes loosely combined. 



Art. IX.— Note of the Great Meteor of June Sth, 1878. 

 By R. L. J. Ellery, F.R.S. 



[Read 11th July, 1878.] 



There is one point in connection with the apparition of the 

 great daylight meteor of June 8, 1878, which is remarkable and 

 interesting — that is the apparent exactness with which diffe- 

 rent observers, hundreds of miles apart, erroneously localise 

 certain phases of the phenomenon, and the imaginary nearness 

 to the observers at which these phases occurred, leading one 

 to the conclusion that usual human experience in judging of 

 distance, &c., is altogether at a loss in the case of such pheno- 

 mena as this. The meteor appeared about 3 p.m. on June 8, 

 and was seen at Sydney, off the N.S.W. coast at sea, at Yass, 

 Braidwood, Cooma, Omeo, over many parts of Gippsland, 

 at Geelong, Ballarat, Seymour, &c., &c., and by sifting all the 

 reports, and allowing for difference of local time, all about 

 the same tir)ie. There can be no doubt it reached its mini- 

 mum distance from the earth somewhere in the zenith of 

 Kosciusko, and passed nearly over the zeniths of Cooma and 

 Omeo. From Seymour it was seen in the east, about 30° 

 high ; from this its height may be roughly estimated as over 

 100 miles, while by two different observers at different 

 places a bursting-up of the meteor was witnessed, followed 

 at an estimated interval of from 10 to 15 minutes by loud 

 explosions — most probably one explosion and its aerial echoes. 

 This would give us an estimate of its distance from these 

 observers of nearly 200 miles. 



At Cooma, Yass, and about that district, it was firmly 

 believed to have come to the earth in the neighbourhood, 

 and to have fell by the side of Jellimatong ; indeed, it was 

 reported that fragments were picked up in that district. 

 The explosion seemed to be quite close to the observers, and 

 was called by some an earthquake. 



