344 



an extraordinary disposition to incandescence 

 must have reigned on the 12th November, in 

 the higher regions of the atmosphere, to have 

 furnished during four hours myriads of bolides 

 and falling stars visible at the equator, in Green- 

 land, and in Germany ! 



Mr. Benzenberg judiciously observes, that the 

 same cause, which renders the phenomenon 

 more frequent, has also an influence on the 

 largeness of the meteors, and the intensity of 

 their light. In Europe, the nights when there 

 are the greatest number x)f falling stars are 

 those, in which very bright ones are mixed with 

 very small ones. The periodicalness of the phe- 

 nomenon augments the interest which it ex- 

 cites. There are months, in which Mr. Brandes 

 has reckoned in our temperate zone only sixty 

 or eighty falling stars in one night ; and in 

 other months their number has risen to two 

 thousand. Whenever one is observed, which 

 has the diameter of Sirius or of Jupiter, we are 

 sure of seeing so brilliant a meteor succeeded 

 by a great number of smaller meteors. If the 

 falling stars be very frequent during one night, 

 it is very probable, that this frequency will 

 continue during several weeks. It would seem, 

 that in the higher regions of the atmosphere^ 



terrestrial longitudes. He considered them as celestial sig- 

 nals seen at great distances. 



