seen December 19, 1849. 



361 



less at the time of its separation : he adds, that he is not much 

 accustomed to such observations. Mr. A. D. Stevenson, 

 living in South Portland Street, Glasgow, saw the meteor 

 moving along at a height just sufficient to clear the chimney- 

 tops, on the west side of the street; an elevation which he 

 afterwards estimated, as he states, with considerable accuracy 

 at 28°. I have received further and more minute accounts of 

 the appearance of the meteor from Mr. Stevenson, who has 

 been most kind and intelligent in his communications ; and 

 my friend Mr. James Peddie has verified the accuracy of Mr. 

 Stevenson's observations beyond the possibility of mistake. 

 It appears that the meteor passed quite clear of a stack of 

 chimneys on the opposite side of the street, which would give 

 it a well-defined minimum altitude of 25° 41'; but Mr. Ste- 

 venson is of opinion that it rose more than 2° higher, or to 

 not less than 28° (perhaps even to 28° 21') ; when it was 

 highest, its bearing was 52~° W. of N. (magnetic), and it dis- 

 appeared from his view when it bore 40° 27' E. of magnetic 

 N. It was then decidedly single. Now this bearing coincides 

 with that at which Mr. Gourlie observed it to become double, 

 and consequently the limit towards the N. of this event is se- 

 verely defined. 



The following table contains the most definite of these ob- 

 servations, and the azimuths are all reduced to the true me- 

 ridian. 





Greatest 

 altitude. 



True azi- 

 muth when 

 first seen. 



True azimuth 

 of disappear- 

 ance. 



Arc 

 observed. 



True azimuth 

 of first ex- 

 plosion. 



Altitude 



at first 



explosion. 



Durham ... 

 Edinburgh 

 St. Andrews 

 Perth 



Glasgow ... 



10° 30 

 15 

 15 

 17 30 



28 



N. 45°W. 

 W.11°S. 

 N.55°W. 



W. 47° S. 



N. 12° E. 

 N. 24° E. 

 N. 16° E. 

 N. 7°W. 

 (in a cloud) 



o 



57 

 125 



71 

 130 



100? 



N. 

 N. 1° W. 



N. 4° E. 

 ? 



N. 14° E. 



o 



7 

 15 





Remarks on the Observations. 



1. On the whole, these observations are not consistent, and 

 cannot (I conceive) be cleared up without additional and accu- 

 rate ones, which it may now be too late to procure. The 

 central group of stations, Edinburgh, Perth and St. Andrews, 

 are sufficiently accordant, and indicate that the path of the 

 meteor must have been nearly parallel to a line passing 

 through the first and last of those places, or in a direction N. 

 27° E. (true) ; which accords well with the observations at 

 most of the individual stations, and particularly with the va- 



