V. 
THE METEORITE OF THE 20th OF NOVEMBER, 1887. 
By H. George Eordham, E.G.S. 
Read at St. Albans , 16th April, 1888. 
PLATE II. 
Introduction. 
The shock experienced over a considerable area in central 
England on the morning of Sunday, the 20th of November, 1887, 
was, naturally enough, in the first instance regarded as arising from 
an earthquake. 
Upon this assumption an investigation of the phenomena 
observed was commenced so far as Hertfordshire was concerned, 
with a view to the communication of the results to this Society, 
and their publication in our ‘ Transactions.’ 
So soon, however, as some little inquiry had been made, it 
became apparent that the shock and sound noticed came from the 
air rather than from the earth; and when, also, information was 
received that a meteor had been actually seen from Hertford, no 
doubt remained that what had been attributed to an earthquake 
had in reality resulted from the passage, across the district affected, 
of a meteorite, and one probably of some magnitude. 
Such an occurrence has never, so far as I am aware, been 
recorded in the United Kingdom with any attempt at detail, and 
the interest arising from the novelty of the phenomena observed 
must be my excuse for the length of this report. 
In dealing with letters, and other original communications, 
which embody statements of the various impressions made upon 
observers by vibrations of the air, set in motion either by the 
passage of the meteorite through the atmosphere or by an explosion 
or explosions of the meteorite itself, I have thought that the only 
satisfactory course would be to print all the material parts of 
these statements in extenso , authenticating them with the signatures 
and addresses of the observers. At the same time I have cut out 
all sentences and phrases the absence of which does not affect the 
meaning of material statements. In doing so it has been necessary, 
in some few instances, to make trifling insertions of words to carry 
on the sense. The result of this is that, here and there, a sentence 
commences or ends abruptly, or is a little wanting in sequence, and 
this must be attributed to my excision of matter not necessary for 
my present purpose, and not to any act of the original writer. 
While thus omitting much that is not strictly relevant to the 
subject of this report, I give, in its original form, every scrap of 
information that I have been able to gather together. 
The general result of the information obtained is that a sound, 
variously described, was heard about 20 minutes past 8 on the 
morning of Sunday, the 20th of November, over an area extending 
VOL. v.— PART II. 3 
