60 
H. Gr. FORD HAM-THE METEORITE 
apparently seen from Solihull—was at about S.S.E., over Abingdon, 
or slightly further W., over Wantage, and was, in fact, the final ex¬ 
plosion terminating the meteorite’s existence, and the distance from 
Solihull being about 58 miles, it is hardly probable that what was 
seen was at a smaller angle of elevation than 15°, which would give 
a vertical height at Abingdon or Wantage of 12 miles. 
If the Solihull report is to be relied on, and the above assumptions 
are also to be accepted, the Hertford and Solihull reports can only 
be approximately harmonized by either placing the track of the 
meteorite upon a line passing through or even to the N. of Oxford, 
or assuming on the Barrington-Wantage line a course more nearly 
parallel to the earth’s surface at an elevation such as 20 miles at 
East Harling and 10 at Aylesbury, which would give an eleva¬ 
tion of 6^ miles at Wantage. Eor simplicity’s sake in the 
preceding rough calculations the earth’s surface is regarded as a 
plane, and the meteorite’s course as a straight line. 
There is also the possibility, not to be altogether disregarded, of 
the breaking up of the meteorite in Bedfordshire, and the adoption 
of divergent tracks by the fragments, and such an hypothesis might 
perhaps help to explain the report from Solihull, without any modi¬ 
fication of the theory of the main Barrington-Wantage track being 
necessary. 
It will be seen from the preceding considerations that there are 
a good many elements of doubt in any conclusions as to the track 
to be laid down, and the elevation to be assumed at different points 
on the meteorite’s course. 
(6) General Summary. 
I have now pointed out the several deductions which seem fairly 
to arise from the consideration of the various reports. It is difficult 
to bring them into complete harmony, but, nevertheless, the con¬ 
clusion to be derived from a general survey of the whole of the 
evidence seems to be (1) that a meteorite of considerable magnitude 
passed across central England at a very high velocity at 8*20 a.m. 
on the morning of November 20th, 1887 ; (2) that its track may 
be laid down approximately on the map as passing over East 
Harling, Newmarket, Barrington, Aylesbury, Thame, and Wantage ; 
(3) that its elevation was, at East Harling, between twenty and 
thirty miles, and was in the latter part of its course between 
five and ten miles; (4) that at points in the neighbourhood of 
Ampthill, Thame, and Abingdon and Wantage, explosions took 
place which account for the sounds and shock reported by numerous 
observers; and (5) that the explosion in the Abingdon-Wantage 
district terminated the course of the meteorite by the final dissipa¬ 
tion of its mass either in solid fragments or as gaseous products of 
its combustion.* 
No fragments resulting from an explosion have been as yet 
discovered; but there may still possibly be such a discovery, and 
* See discussion in ‘ Metereological Magazine,’ vol. xxii, p. 162 (Editorial 
Notice), and p. 177 (letter of Mr. James G. Wood), and also vol. xxiii, pp. 20 
and 48 (article by the present author). 
