Falling Stars and Meteorites. 157 



FALLING STARS AND METEORITES. 



BY PROFESSOR D. T. ANSTED, M.A., F.R.S. 



From the earliest times — long before men had any idea of the 

 calculations of astronomy, of the difference between planets and 

 fixed stars, or of the vast distance of the nearest star not only 

 from the earth, but from any part of the solar system — the sin- 

 gular phenomena of falling stars had been noticed, and had 

 connected themselves with feelings that will probably never be 

 entirely eradicated from the minds of men. Thus in the same 

 ancient Jewish history that tells us " the sun stood still, and 

 the moon stayed," in order that Joshua might destroy a few 

 more of his fleeing enemies, we read also, " the stars in their 

 courses fought against Sisera." Both these expressions are 

 probably intended as no more than oriental pleonasms, but they 

 indicate strongly the unalterable egotism of man, who will to 

 the end of time regard himself and his affairs as the ultimate 

 object of divine care. 



When, therefore, on the tenth of August last, the usual 

 annual shower of Nature's rockets was seen in the atmosphere 

 — this storm of silent flashes and darts of light, mysteriously 

 shooting from one point of the heavens towards another 

 point, some with bright trails of light, some as fiery balls, 

 some darts and arrows of light, and not a few ending as the 

 rocket with an additional shower of sparks — many, perhaps, 

 who were unaware of the natural history of these objects 

 may have fancied that some extraordinary crisis was about to 

 take place in American politics, or that Europe was about to be 

 convulsed by the refusal of Russia to treat the Poles as any- 

 thing but wild beasts. For a very long time, however, the cor- 

 responding date, and also the 12th November, and several other 

 days in the year, have been remarkable for an exhibition of the 

 same kind without political consequences. 



Kings have been born and died ; revolutions have been 

 commenced and carried out in human affairs ; battles Lave been 

 won and lost, but the day of the shower of falling stars 

 has not much altered, though the clear sky has sometimes 

 favoured, whilst at other times the clouds have concealed, the 

 mysterious operations of nature.* 



seem to be perfectly incontestable that, as the cell diminishes in size with the 

 expulsion of the thread, it forms Hie propelling power, and, by the contrac- 

 tion of its wall, forces its contents outward." — American Journal of Science, 

 May, 1863. 



* It is a remarkable fact that in some very ancient records the date assigned 

 to the phenomenon is many days earlier, even so early as the 25th July. In 

 Thessaly there is a tradition that the heavens open and Bghts appear on tb.0 

 festival of the Transfiguration (Oth Aug.) The reason is obvious. The civil time wo 



