10th.) Iorizontally in N.W. at an ele-This meteor, when Ibid............. Id...... Ibid. vation of 35°. it met a corusca tion of Aurora Borealis, instantly became golden & much brighter. ky overcast, except an opening Night hot, temp. 65° Ibid....... Id....... Ibid. in E.S.E. at 10 above hori zon. The meteor appeared in this opening. n S. at an altitude of 30° mo ving towards S.W. horizon, at an angle of 45°. loved from Vulpecula through y Aquilæ. tarting in the zenith and pass- Similar in every re- Ibid.... Ibid...... Id. Mr. Lowe's MS. Observatory, Id. Ibid. Beeston. Id........ Ibid. ing down through & Lyræ to spect to the last. ■ Herculis. 30 7 51 In evening.. Oct. 8 In evening.. 97 13 = from 2nd to 3rd Colourless Same body seemed to dis-Tolerably rapid, du- =2nd mag. Colourless Streak 7 27 =1st mag.*. .... Very rapid Bluish ......... Long tail, and leaving a Motion slow, dura tion 1.15 sec. streak in its track. 1857. Aug. 25 8 30 p.m. Brilliant ball = D Observations of Luminous Meteors Orange......... On bursting threw out a Continued about shower of fire and disap- secs., then burst peared in about 2 secs. 1858. Jan. 10 8 17 p.m. Brilliant Broke into brilliant reddish 31 10 40 p.m. Bright meteor = moon Orange......... Threw off large sparks and disappeared below hori zon. and in form of a crescent, as if 5 or 6 days old; became elongated a little, and fell rotating; diameter of circle of rotation being Direction or Altitude. General remarks. Place. Observer. Reference. - Path from the Sword-handle of Night remarkably Observatory, Perseus, moving downwards towards the N., passing 8° above Capella and almost through ẞ Aurigæ, fading away near that star. Fell perpendicularly down, or rather nearly so, and moving parallel with and 1o W. of the superior edge of Donati's Comet. Had the appearance of moving behind opake body, as the same shaped object disappeared and reappeared 21 times. some clear and cloud- Beeston. less. Day had been very hot, temp. in shade reaching 80°-5. Highfield House Id......... Observatory. Donati's Comet Ibid. Ibid........ Dec. 54 45 p.in. Round and larger than Bright white... Train after disappearance.. Almost instanta 24; then divided neous. No. 1.-Extracts from the section on Meteorites, &c., of a work entitled "Popular Physical Astronomy," by Daniel Vaughan. Cincinnati, U.S., 1858 (p. 82 et seq.). After mentioning some of the well-known instances of large meteorites, the author observes that the average of observations shows about one fall annually in the extent of territory including the British Isles and France; or in about 7th of the earth's surface. Chladni calculates that about 700 fall annually on our planet. Their mean velocity appears to be about equal, or even superior to that of the earth in its orbit. (This result seems at variance with that assumed by Mr. Bompas: see last Report.] Solid masses moving through the air experience or produce a pressure nearly proportional to the square of their velocity. This pressure the author calculates, on a mass entering our atmosphere with the velocity of a meteorite, would amount to 80 tons to the square inch, which would suffice to crush it into fragments, especially if descending almost vertically; when more oblique, the resistance and the chance of rupture will be less. This the author considers a sufficient cause to account for the seeming explosion and noise. He next adverts to their luminosity. Some attribute this to the condensation of the atmosphere by their velocity. But this he considers untenable, as in fact the most luminous meteors are those which move obliquely or even |