ICO Falling Stars and Meteorites. 



Passing on now to the more remarkable and rarer meteors 

 we find statements of the most singular and even contradictory 

 nature. There is much that is interesting and instructive in 

 these accounts, though when forwarded by observers not ac- 

 customed to astronomical descriptions, they require a certain 

 amount of correction. 



The simplest complications of an ordinary shooting-star are 

 an apparent curvature, a serpentine course, or an apparent in- 

 terval of repose in the course; a distinct line of light or train 

 left behind in the sky, and a bursting of the star before it dis- 

 appears, leaving behind a multitude of small stars precisely re- 

 sembling an exploded rocket. All these are common. The 

 rarer appearances will be noticed presently. 



The duration of the phenomenon is another matter also 

 very interesting in certain cases. While ordinary meteors 

 are over almost before one has time to be sure of their 

 existence, and note their size and direction, others move 

 slowly. Trains remaining visible for several tenths of a 

 second, for one or even two seconds, are exceptional, but not 

 very rare. Now and then, however, the meteor lasts for a minute. 

 Much more remarkable cases are, however, recorded. Thus, 

 on the 7th January, 1856, at 4*50 p.m., a fire-ball appeared in 

 the sky in the South of England, being seen at various places 

 between Wiltshire and the east of Kent. The sky was clear, 

 .-nid the fire-hall appeared to burst out from the sky as a bril- 

 liant globo of light. It remained visible everywhere for more 

 than ten minutes before it finally disappeared. In Wiltshire it 

 was seen for twenty minutes, at Brighton lor fifteen minutes, at 

 Sevenoaks for ten minutes, and at, Blackheath for the same 

 lime Its size was estimated at four times the diameter of 

 Jupiter. In most places it suddenly appeared from the clear sky, 

 hut at Blackheath it emerged from, ami waslost behind clouds. 

 This very remarkable meteor is ono of the best and most dis- 

 tinctly recorded of those which have been seen at great 



di tances apart, and which, being seen for some time, could be 



clearly identified. 



.Many of the meteors appear coloured, and the colours are 



very varied. Bright emerald blue, intense blue, orange, greenish 

 and red, have all been described, and, us may be supposed, 

 there are abundant shades of each. Upwards of a thousand 

 coloured shooting-stars were distinctly recorded as observed in 



gland in th en years from L840 to 1855, and records 



of about a thousand have also been collected from China. Of 

 the former, upwards of half were yellowish red, ami a third 

 whitish blue. Of the latter, about one-third were pure blue, a 



th pure yellow, and about the same number pure red. Of 

 larger meteor , ii baa been recorded that about 700 



