F I 
cocks (hewed that a light fouth-weft wind prevailed at 
fome height in the atmofphere. At the time of this phe- 
notnenon the earth was overfpread by a pale mid, through 
which no (tars could be perceived, and which the follow¬ 
ing night became a thick fog-’’ 
A very remarkable phenomenon of this kind was feen 
in the county of Kent, and its neighbourhood, on Sunday 
the 22d of September, 1799, at about thirty-five minutes 
pad eight in the evening. It came from the fouth-weft, 
and paired in a fouth-eafterly direction till it funk in the 
horizon. It feemed to be nearly of the fize of the moon, 
but of an oval, or rather conic form, the thickeft end 
goingforemoft. The (ky, which was dark and ftormy, was 
illuminated during its pallage more brightly than by the 
‘full moon. Its colour was a vivid white, inclining a little 
to yellow ; and it feemed as if followed by a few fmaller 
globules, or rather large fparks, of a red colour, winch 
kept at the fame diftance from its body during the whole 
time that it was vilible, which was for feveral feconds. 
Of this meteor we have the following account from 
Capel LofFt, efq. of Trofton, near Bury. “ In the even¬ 
ing of Sunday September 22, my attention was arrefted 
by a mod vivid reflection of light, as it full day had 
fprung on me intfantaneonfly. I immediately turned 
round to difcover whence it proceeded, and (aw a molt 
luminous body, apparently equal to the full moon when 
flie appears greateft, but certainly very much brighter. 
It was of an exceedingly fplendid gold colour, and round, 
except to the weft, where it was of a ftrong red, drawing- 
off to purple, and its edge ill defined, and rather unequal. 
It was about twelve or fifteen degrees high, and almoft 
exaftly in the meridian. It feemed nearly ftatioiiary ; 
but what little motion it had, tending to the horizon 
nearly at a right angle. In about three or four feconds 
it difappeared, as if finking behind the clouds : I ob- 
ferved no fparkles, nor any luminous train left behind it, 
nor any explofion. It was feen by many at Bury, and was 
alfo feen at Norwich, and at Cromer. Near Norwich it 
■was obferved to throw out red fparks, and was noticed to' 
be of a very white light : and the different colour of its 
light may be naturally referred to different (fates of cofn- 
buftion, and partly todifferent (frataof atmofphere through 
which it puffed. It does not appear to have been noticed 
at London, Peterborough, Oxford, or Lincoln ; or even 
at Cambridge, though fo very little weft of the places 
v here it was feen. Yet it was fcarcely pofiible to have 
been not feen by any perfon who was out, if within the 
limits of the fenfible horizon which circumfcribed it. 
This feerns a ftrong prefumption that it muff have been 
uncommonly low indeed. Very few ftars being then vifi- 
ble, it was not eafy to come to much accuracy as to its 
apparent path.” 
Many and various are the opinions concerning the na¬ 
ture and origin of fire-balls. The firft thing that occurred 
to piiilofophers on this (ubjeCf was, that the meteors in 
queftion were burning bodies rifing from the furface of 
the earth, and flying through the atmofphere with great 
rapidity. But this hypothefis was foon rejeCted, on con- 
liaering that there was no power known by which fuch 
bodies could either be railed to a fufficient height, or 
projected with the velocity of the meteors. The next 
hypothefis was, that, inftead of one fingle body, they 
conlift ot a train of fulphureous vapours, extending a v-aft 
way through the atmofphere, and being kindled at one 
end, dif t lay the luminous appearances in queftion by the 
fire running from one end of the train to the other. But 
it is not ealy to conceive how fuch matters can exift and 
be difpofed in fuch lines in (o rare a part of the atmo¬ 
fphere, and even to burn there, in an almoft perfect va¬ 
cuum. For which realon this hypothefis was abandoned 
tor another, which was, that thole meteors are perma¬ 
nent folid bodies, not riling from the earth, but revolving 
round it in very eccentric orbits, and thus in their peri- 
geon moving with vaft rapidity. But as the various ap¬ 
pearances of one and the fame meteor, to oblervers at 
R E. , S87 
different places, are not compatible with the idea ot a 
fingle body fo revolving, this hypothefis has al(o been 
given up in its turn. Another hypothefis that has fome- 
times been advanced is this, viz. that thefe meteors are 
a kind of bodies that take fire as foon as they come within 
the atmofphere of the earth. But this cannot be fup- 
pofed without implying a previous knowledge of thefe, 
bodies, which it is impoftible we can have. It has been 
of lute pretty generally concluded, that fire-balls are great 
bodies of electric matter, moving from one part of the 
heavens where, to our conception, it is fuperabundant, to 
another, where it is deficient: a conclufion drawn from 
the analogy obferved between eleCtricity and the pheno¬ 
mena of thefe meteors; and hence the fire-balls are con- 
fidered of the fame family with (hooting-ftars, lightning, 
the aurora borealis, See. and are all referred to the fame 
origin, viz. the eleCtricity of the atmofphere. See FI leg- 
tricitv. vo 1 . vi. p. 431, and the article Meteorology. 
M. Chlddni, however, profeffor of natural philofophy 
at Wittenberg, has recently hazarded a very-different hy¬ 
pothefis, which refers the fire-balls to a cofmical origin ; 
and thereby accounts for the fingular mafs of iron found, 
by Dr. Pallas in Siberia, and deferibed in the third volume 
of his Travels. Profelfor Chladni endeavours to (hew, 
that “ this mafs neither originated by the zvet method ; nor 
could have been produced by art, the burning of a foreft, 
by lightning, or by a volcanic eruption.” It appears to 
him much more probable that it is an exploded fire-ball ; 
and he quotes a variety of obfervations in fupport of this 
opinion. He endeavours to prove that fire-balls do not 
arife either from an accumulation of the matter of the 
aurora borealis; a tranfition of electricity from one part 
of the atmofphere to another; an accumulation of porous 
inflammable fubftances in the higher regions, or the 
catching fire of a long train of inflammable air; but that 
their component parts muft be confiderably denfe and 
heavy, as their courfe (hews in fo apparent a manner the 
etfefts of gravity ; and becaufe their mafs, though it did 
tends to a monftrous fize, retains fufficient confiftencv 
and weight to continue an exceedingly rapid moveraer/ 
through a very large fpace, without being decompofed 
or dilfolved, notwithftanding-the refiftance of the atmo¬ 
fphere. It feerns to him probable, that this fubftance is 
by the effect of fire reduced to a tough fluid condition; 
becaufe its form appears fometimes round and fometirnes 
elongated, and as its extending till it burfts, as well as the 
burfting itfelf, allows us to fuppofe a previous capability 
of extenfion by an elaftic fluidity. At any rate, it appears 
to be certain, that fuch denfe matter at fo great a height is 
not collected from particles to, be found in our atmo¬ 
fphere, or can be thrown together into large maffes by 
any power with which we are acquainted ; that no power 
with which we are acquainted is able to give to fuel] bo¬ 
dies fo rapid a projectile force in a direction almoft pa¬ 
rallel to the horizon; that the matter does not rife up¬ 
wards from the earth, but exifts previoufly in the celeftial 
regions, and muft have been conveyed thence to our earth. 
In the opinion ot Dr. Chladni, the following is the only 
theory of fire-balls that agrees with all the'-accounts hi¬ 
therto given ; which is not contrary to nature in any ether 
refpeCt; and which befides feerns to be confirmed by va¬ 
rious maffes found on the fpot where they fiei 1. 
A? earthy, metallic, and other, particles form the prin¬ 
cipal component parts of our planets, among which iron 
is the prevailing part, other planetary bodies may there¬ 
fore conlift of limilar, or perhaps the (ame, component 
parts, though combined and modified in a very different 
manner. 1 here may alio be denfe matters accumulated 
in fmaller maffes wiibout being in immediate connexion 
with the larger planetary bodies, dilperfed throughout 
infinite fpace, and which, being impelled either by feme 
projecting power or attraction, continue to move until 
they approach the earth or fome other body ; when being 
overcome by their attractive force, they immediately fall 
down. By their exceedingly great velocity, (till increased 
bv 
