[ 2 24 ] 
ted no fparks, as iron does in that ftate. The head 
“ was about half the diameter of the moon, and, till 
t{ it had defeended to within about 14. 0 of the hori- 
“ zon, was, as I apprehend by the account, fome- 
<c what lefs in the vertical than in the horizontal dia- 
meter; but, from 14, 0 high, it was at its utmoft 
<J fplendor, and round, and continued fo till it difap- 
<J peared. The tail was about a fifth part of the 
<£ breadth of the head (Fig 1.), and when the head 
“ was about 27° high, was at the longed:: the length 
“ then might be fomewhat more than 8°, which 
<c was the mean length. The colour of the tail was 
<c a dufkifh red, about the colour of red-hot iro^ 
“ all of a breadth, not pointed. When the head was 
<c about 6° or 7 0 high *, the tail burft, as my 
“ informer exprefied it, and the brightnefs of the 
“ light dazzled his eyes ; after which the tail difap- 
“ peared, and in the room of it there were three 
“ liars, all contained within the compafs of a little 
<l more than one degree from the head ( Fig. 2 .) ; and 
they, together with the head, defeended, keeping 
** their due diftance, till below the horizon T. 
u The diameter of thefe flars was nearly the fame 
“ with the diameter of the tail, viz. about 3'; but they 
u were of the fame colour as the head. The 
“ brightnefs of the light was fo great, that ( accord - 
* Suppofing this angle of elevation juft, the real height of the 
meteor, when the tail broke off, over the (hire of Lanerk in Scot- 
land, was about 42 miles, allowing for the curvature of the earth. 
f This circumftance of the head’s falling under the horizon 
might have been a deception ; for at Silchefter, which was at a 
greater diftance, the head difappeared before it came to the hori- 
zon ; but, perhaps, the horizon was clearer and lower there than 
at Cambridge. 
3 “ *ng 
