412 ATMOSPHEKICAL PHENOMEK*^ 
will continue during several weeks. It would 
in the higher regions of the atmosphere, j-y g^i.' 
limit where the centrifugal force is balanced ^ 
umil wncic VilC CClikUlU^cU awiv.i^ *a uaic *^.* — j' 
there exists, at regular periods, a particular g A'', 
the production of bolides, falling stars, and 
T1 T~^ ^ ^ ^ frVtie /Tl'f'Sr 
1116 prOtlUCLlOll <J1 UUllUcs^ oldlaj «** . 
Borealis. Does the periodicalness of this great p ’ , ) 
t 1 * r .1 _ 1 :i nr - 
depend upon the state of the atmosphere ? 
thing which this atmosphere receives from "f* ’ 
• .I'i /-wr .11 this 
tlie earth advances in the ecliptic ? Of all this 
ignorant as men were in the days of Anaxagor^- 
“ With respect to the falling stars themselve ’ 
to me, from my own experience, that ih®/ 
frequent in the equinoctial regions than in “’C 
treqaent in tne equinociiai regions man u* *• v , 
zone ; more frequent over the continents, 
coasts, than in the middle of the ocean. Dotbej^,,g| 
the surface of the globe, and the electric chai'g® ^ 
regions of the atmosphere, which varies 
nature of the soil, and the positions of ' 
seas, exert their influence as far as those 
•ternal winter reigns ? The total absence even 
clouds, at certain seasons, or above some 
V.,- 
destitute of vegetation, seems to prove, that «• 
can be felt at least as far as five or six thousaiu d>' 
can DC IclL dl iCdSL icu tia Aivu ui oiA. EAAvs- .p 
A phenomenon analogous to tliat of the 
0^ 
A. pilCUUUlCl!UiWUi...v>&..-i.. ...w -- . l^lld ||J(‘ 
tt'as observed thirty years before, on the tao* 
&,ndes, in a country studded with volcanoes. ^ jff 
Quito, there was seen, in one p.art of t^e sti'l'V 
volcano of Gayambo, so great a number of 
the mountain was thought to be in flames.^ 
sight lasted more than an hour. The people ,ii 
thl; plain of Kxico, where a maguificeut vie\v P ’ 
of the highest summits of the Cordilleras. 
already on the point of setling out from 
Francis, when it was perceived, that the blaze oi , . A ^ 
was caused by fiery meteors, which ran g„ 
all directions, at the altitude of twelve or thn 
laze '' ,|,e ’ > 
along 
The bolides, or fire-balls, and falling star*' 
example of which is given above, are of d* .. ^ 
small shooting star of llie fifth magnitnde’ q'Kjy ,, 
cylinder of two or three miles in dianiete*; C- 
cylmuer oi iwo oi uiree luues m uicu“— ^ ju 
in consistency as much as in dimensions, an 
1 • *.i r\ : — vy.li., ‘%rii * 
til* 
much as in either. Occasionally, they are 
