190 



METEORS AND FALLING STARS. 



[1854. 



to this similarity there are exceptions regarding individual points. 

 Hence, by some mineralogists these meteoric masses have been 

 distinguished as those containing nickeliferous meteoric iron, and 

 those consisting of fine or coarsely-granular meteoric dust. All 

 that have yet been found, with one exception I believe (that of 

 Chantonnay, in La Vendee), have been covered with a thin crust, 

 or rind, only a few tenths of a line in thickness, of a deep, black 

 colour, occasionally veined and sprinkled over with small asperi- 

 ties. This crust is generally divided from the inner light-grey 

 mass by a sharply-defined line of separation, and bears marks of 

 having been subjected to an intensely powerful heat. Amongst 

 the first who instituted the chemical investigation of meteoric 

 stones, were Vauquelin aud Berzelius, who examined them only 

 for their constituent elements, which they made to consist of 15 

 in number, viz., iron, nickel, cobalt, manganese,, chromium, cop- 

 per, arsenic, zinc, potash, soda, sulphur, phosphorus, and car- 

 bon. Farther examinations by the Roses of Berlin, Prof. Ram- 

 melsberg, and Prof. Shepard of Amherst, have added to the 

 number, so that the actual number of recognized elements are 

 no fewer than 19 or 20. Prof. Rammelsberg, as quoted in Vol. 

 IV. of Humboldt's Cosmos, says : " Of the simz>le substances 

 hitherto detected in the meteoric stones, there are 18 — oxygen, 

 sulphur, phosphorus, carbon, silicium, aluminum, magnesium, 

 calcium, potassium, sodium, iron, nickel, cobalt, chromium, man- 

 ganesium, copper, tin, and titanium. The proximate constituents 

 are : (1) metallic : nickel-iron, a combination of phosphorus with 

 iron and nickel, sulphuret of iron and magnetic pyrites ; (2) oxy- 

 dized: magnetic iron ore, and chrome iron ore; (3) silicates: 

 olivin, anorthite, labrador, and augite." Cobalt and nickel are 

 the most invariably present, but iron is the ruling ingredient 

 The specific gravity of some of these stones amounts to as much 

 as 4.28, while in other cases it is as low as 1.94. 



FIRE-BALLS. 



We may now briefly notice the peculiar features of fire-balls 

 and falling stars, reserving the theories that have been proposed 

 regarding the origin of meteoric stones as applicable to the whole. 

 These meteors appear to move in the arcs of great circles, and to 

 come from certain particular directions. No movement of rota- 

 tion has been recognized in them. Their apparent discs are 

 doubtless greatly overrated from optical causes. Occasionally 

 they seem to exceed the circumference of the full moon, which, 

 at the distance of 110 miles, would give a diameter of about a 

 mile. The amount of light given out by them is much less than 

 that of the moon. As to the altitude of meteors, very great dif- 

 ference of opinion obtains. The first series of observations for 

 determining this point, as well as then- velocity, were made by 

 Brandes and Benzenberg in Germany, in 1798, and repeated (by 

 Brandes and others) in 1823. The altitude varied from 4 to 80 

 miles, a few from 180 to 240 miles, and the velocity from 18 to 

 36 miles in a second. The velocity, as shown by the results of 

 M. Quetelet's observations in Belgium in 1824, was about the 

 same as the translatory velocity of the earth — i, e., 16.4 miles. 

 Heis and Houzeau have lately given the result of observations, 

 making the velocity of some shooting-stars to be between 46 and 

 95 miles in the second, consequently 2 to 5 times as great as the 

 planetary velocity of the earth. According to the existing mea- 

 surements, fire-balls appear to move slower than shooting-stars ; 

 but, at the velocity stated, it is astonishing that they do not sink 

 deeper into the earth, only one being known to have ploughed 

 up the earth to the depth of 18 feet. The visible duration of 

 meteors seldom exceeds a few seconds, although occasional in- 

 stances of longer duration are recorded. Capt. Shortrede saw a 

 meteor at Charka, in India, in 1842, which, with its train, was 



visible for nearly five minutes. The most notable instance of this 

 sort is that of Jenny Lind's meteor, seen from Boston on the 30th 

 Sept., 1850, and which remained visible for an hour. On the 

 1st April, 1851, a very brilliant one was seen at Aden. It was 

 mistaken by the sentry at the Turkish wall for an alarm-rocket, 

 and he discharged his musket accordingly, giving the usual notice 

 and thus summoning to arms from their midnight slumbers the 

 whole garrison of 4000 men. 



Perhaps one of the most extraordinary meteors that ever ap- 

 peared in England was seen from two independent stations in 

 the paiish of Beeston, about the 1st Nov. last, at 3 h. 57 min., 

 p.m, and, of course, in broad daylight. Had this phenomenon 

 occurred at night time, it would have been a glorious object. The 

 following particulars are given in a letter to the Times newspaper, 

 by E. J. Lowe, Esq., of the Beeston Observatory : " The meteor 

 moved nearly perpendicularly down, inclining to east. It was 

 first seen as a circular body, of about half the apparent diameter 

 of the sun, being accompanied by a stream of light ; afterwards 

 it increased to almost the diameter of the sun, and then burst 

 into fragments with an explosion. The report of the explosion 

 was from 1 sec. to 3 sec. after the meteor had disappeared, and 

 resembled distant thunder. The meteor passed over about 15 

 deg. of space, disappearing 30 deg. E. of N., at an altitude of 

 about 10 deg. ; duration, 3 sec. It was very brilliant, shining 

 with a somewhat yellow light. Soon afterwards, near the spot 

 where it had disappeared, a band of prismatic colours was visi- 

 ble, being 2 deg. wide and 5 deg. in length. This phenomenon 

 when first perceived was as brilliant as a rainbow, but soon faded, 

 finally disappearing in about 5 min. Clouds were dispersed over 

 the sky, from behind one of which the meteor appeared, after 

 wards vanishing behind another. The prismatic colours were 

 seen upon clouds, or shining through them. Another observer 

 informed him afterwards that the meteor at first moved more 

 obliquely than afterwards ; it three times burst into fragments, 

 and was distinctly observed to pass beneath a cloud. 



According to Mr. Lowe, meteors may be divided into three 

 classes: 1st. Those with luminous streaks; 2nd. Those with sepa- 

 rate stars, and those without any appendage ; and 3rd. Those 

 large bodies with well-defined discs. The first class, he thinks, 

 may shine by inherent light, or be surrounded by a luminous 

 atmosphere; the second class by reflected light, as described by 

 Sir John Lubbock ; and the third class may be purely atmo- 

 spherical. As this kind nearly always move in paths discordant 

 to the direction of the other meteors, they are not always spheri- 

 cal, and sometimes change their form. " I have seen them alter 

 their colour from blue to red, and in one instance I saw a meteor 

 of a blue colour give out orange-red sparks. Mr. Hind tells me he 

 saw a green meteor turn to a crimson colour." From 4000 obser- 

 vations, collected during nine years, it has been inferred by Schmidt 

 that 2-3rds of the shooting-stars are white, l-7th yellow, 1-I7th 

 yellowish-red, and only l-37th green. As to the curious fact 

 alleged by some observers, that meteors and shooting-stars ap- 

 pear now and then to ascend, or to alternate in ascent and descent, 

 as if new and opposite forces were brought into play, Bessel and 

 others think it improbable. It perhaps requires still further ob- 

 servation and research. Great diversity of opinion prevails as to 

 whether meteors are always associated with some form of mat- 

 ter analogous to that of known aerolites ; but the presumption is 

 strong that meteoric elements are present in all of them, whether 

 precipitated or not. The first formal catalogue of remarkable 

 meteors of all kinds was that made by Quetelet, and published 

 first in 1837, and again in 1841. Then followed the catalogue 

 of Mr. Herrick, in the United States, and that of M. Chasles, i n 



