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“ have heard any noife, either during the appearance 
“ of the body, or after its extinction.’’ Having in- 
quired how long the light continued, Mr. Cairns an- 
fwered at fir ft, “ he believed about a minute or 
“ two but, upon looking at a watch, which had 
a fecond-hand, and defiring him to recolleCt the time 
from the firft glare of light till the return of darknefs, 
lie ftopt me when I had counted 1 3 feconds *. 
XXVI. I wrote to Dr. Simfon, profefibr of me- 
dicine in the univerfity of St. Andrews (which lies 
about 31 miles N. E. by N. of Edinburgh), who an- 
fwered, “ That his family had been alarmed by 
“ the light, and that one of them cried out, the 
“ heavens were all on fire j that his fon (a minifter) 
* This account of the time is moft likely to be the neareft to 
the truth ; fmce, without examining it in this manner, thofe, who 
are unaccuftomed to meafure fuch fmall portions, will generally 
reckon it much longer than it really is. I have been confirmed in 
my opinion about the fhortnefs of the time, by the obfervation of 
another gentleman, who, being that evening at a friend’s houfe in 
the {hire of Bachngton, faw the light, without feeing the body. I 
defired him to recollect the time, whilft I counted it, and in three 
trials, he ftopt me pretty exactly at 8 or 9 feconds. He imagined 
he could not lofe above 2 or 3 before he faw the light. Mr. Dut- 
ton, watchmaker in Fleet-ftreet, who, fmce this paper was firft 
prcfented to the Society, happened to fee another meteor, which had 
a courfe little fhorter than the other, told me, that he could be 
allured, it was over in about four or five feconds ; tho’ he believed 
that others, not of his bufinefs, nor ufed to compute by fmall por- 
tions of time, would readily have affigned a minute or two for the 
duration of the appearance. But 1 lhall fuppofe Mr. Cairns’s mea- 
fure, corre&ed by the watch, to be juft ; and therefore, as the 
meteor, in 13 feconds, palfed from Cambridge to Fort William, 
a fpace of about 400 miles, it mull have moved at the rate of about 
30 miles in one fecond of time. 
4 
“ hap- 
