_ fome late fiery Meteors. 205 
have ventured to afcribe fuch a deviation to this meteor, from 
the concurrent teftimoay of many obfervers, who fpeak in the 
plaineft terms of a manifeft change in its courfe. about the 
time it was feen to burft; and their evidence is confirmed by 
drawing a line S.S.E. from that part of Scotland to which the 
meteor was vertical, for fuch a line is found:to correfpond with 
its path as far as Yorkfhire, but in the fouthern parts of the 
kingdom falls. great deal too.much to the weftward. That it 
afterwards refumed its former courfe is rendered probable from 
the teftimony of the obfervers in Kent, who almoft uniformly 
mention its difappearance in the S.S.E. as well as from the re- 
marks made by feveral perfons near the metropolis, that when 
it attained: its) greatef{t elevation, it bore but one or two points. 
to. the northward of eaft. 
§ 5. This. meteor was defcribed by moft fpectators under. 
three different forms, and is thus reprefented. by Mr. Sanpsy 
in his beautiful Drawing * ; but the two firft of thofe do not 
imply any real variation in its fhape,. depending only on a dif- 
ference in the point of view. Accordingly, in the firft part of 
its courfe over Scotland, it was feen to have a tail,. and is thus. 
defcribed by General Murray when it pafled Athol Houfe. 
Two caufes concur in this deception; firft, the fore-fhortening;. 
and even occultation, of the tail, when the object is feen nearly 
in front; and, fecondly, that the light’ of moft part of the 
tail is of fo inferior a kind, as to be difficultly perceived. at a 
great diftance, efpecially when the eye is dazzled by the over- 
powering brilliancy of the body. The length and fhape of: 
the tail, however, were perpetually varying ; nor did the body | 
continue always’ of the fame magnitude and figure, but was. 
fometimes round, at other times elliptical, with a blunt or 
* Since engraved. See alfo the figures tab, IV. of this volumes. : | 
pointed) 
