1838.] M. fVarlmann on the Meteoric Showers of Nov. 1833. 169 



of Berne. Those who saw it from this last place, and who followed it 

 for about thirty seconds, agree in saying that it travelled slowly in the 

 direction of the Jura, and that it appeared to them to fall not far from 

 the neighbourhood of Orbe, a small tov.'n of the canton of Yaud, thir- 

 teen leagues north-east of Geneva. Thus in the three situations, the 

 illusion of the observers was so complete, that in spite of the distance 

 which separated them, namely, in the one case a half league and in the 

 other more than thirteen leagues, they each thought they saw the 

 meteor fall down near them. Such a fact evidently shows that this fall 

 is by no means real, and that if the meteor seemed to descend towards 

 the horizon, this circumstance without doubt is owing to the quick de- 

 crease of the angle of sight which measured its apparent height, as 

 the meteor was in rapid motion away from the observers as it pursued 

 its horizontal course. 



The appearance of this isolated meteor showed a sufficiently re- 

 markable resemblance to those which for some years past have been 

 seen periodically towards the middle of November, to make it desirable 

 that an opportunity should occur of verifying whether there are any 

 amongst these last which really fall upon our globe. 



The night of the 12th to the 13th of November, this year, appeared 

 to me proper for this interesting inquiry, from the meteorological cir- 

 cumstances with which it was attended at Geneva, and which I hasten- 

 ed to avail myself of. Rather thick clouds completely veiled the 

 heavens in a uniform manner; they occupied a very elevated region, 

 where they remained stationary all the night. The temperature was 

 mild, the air calm, and the darkness great, although no fog thickened 

 the transparency of the atmosphere. 



The barometer, the thermometer, the hygrometer, the magnetic 

 needle, the ethrioscope and the electroscope were attentively watched 

 at the observatory from seven in the evening to seven in the morning, 

 and their progress marked with care every quarter of an hour*. At 

 the beginning of the observations, at seven o'clock in the evening of 

 the I2th, the barometer reduced to the zero degree marked 725mm. 08, 

 the centigrade thermometer in the open air -f 7°- 8, and Saussure's 

 hygrometer S/^. At midnight the first of these instruments was at 

 726mm. 95, the second at + 6o.9, and the third at 93°. On the 13th, at 

 seven in the morning, the barometer marked 729mm.30, the thermo- 

 meter 4- 5o-2, and the hygrometer 98o. 



* Two of the instrumeHts, the compass and one of the electroscopes, belong to the 

 Cabinet de Physique of our Academic Museum; these were kindly placed at my dis- 

 posal, for which my best thanks are due to the directors. 



