Observed Heights of Meteors and Shooting Stars. 219 



was almost globular and 5' or 6' in diameter, and shed at 

 Eurness Abbey a light equal to the crescent moon. This tail 

 was 2° or 2|° in length, and colourless like the meteor. No 

 change appeared throughout the flight until before disappear- 

 ance a companion was seen to pursue it closely. Both then 

 vanished together abruptly. 



The second meteor appeared to move at London from 15° 

 S. of the zenith towards a point of the horizon 54° W. of S« 

 At Liverpool, it flew from alt. 40° in the S.E. by B. to a few 

 degrees above the horizon S. by W. We infer from these data 

 (slightly modified by other observations), a flight of 300 miles 

 from 195 miles above the Straits of Dover by North Foreland, 

 to 60 or 70 miles above the English Channel, 60 miles S. of 

 Plymouth. This course passes at a height of 150 miles over the 

 Isle of Wight, at which point an enduring tail began to be given 

 off, and continued to be developed to the end of its course. 

 After the dispersion of the nucleus, this tail drifted eastward in 

 the direction of the rising wind at a speed of 1000 feet a 

 second. 



The course of 270 horizontal and 130 vertical miles, is in- 

 clined 27° to the horizon towards 57° W. of S., and the velocity 

 of the meteor was 60 miles a second, while that of the former 

 was only 30. 



Encouraged by the success of these determinations, a cam- 

 paign was organized for the observation of the shower of 

 meteors on the coming 10th of August, in which Mr. Glaisher, 

 and numerous other observers, professional and amateur, pro- 

 mised their assistance for a single hour on every night. 



The first result of this combination was a letter from Mr. 

 J. Baxendell, in Manchester, describing a brilliant meteor 

 at llh. 21m. p.m., I.M.T. of the 6th of August, having two 

 maxima of brightness in a short crooked path of only 3|°j near 

 the star s Oapricorni, in which it moved for more than two se- 

 conds of time. A later communication, from Messrs. J. Townsend 

 and T. Crumplen, contained the following observation, of the 

 same date, in Trafalgar Square. The time differs only one minute 

 from that of Mr. BaxendelPs observation : — " A meteor brighter 

 than that of July 16th shot from near a. Coronse to % Ursse 

 Majoris. It appeared to be extinguished, and then suddenly 

 rekindled. Duration 6 sec. ; tail 2 sec." 



Taking half-way between the two last observed places as a 

 trustworthy point in the meteor course as seen from London, 

 this line of sight is found to pass within seven miles of that 

 from Manchester to the centre of the meteor (as there observed), 

 at 80 miles high, half-way between Leicester and Birmingham. 

 Judging from the foreshortening of 48°, as seen from London, 

 to 3F as seen from Manchester, we must accept the course to 



