The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1859-03-09
shooting Stars -Meteors.

quently observed shooting through the
heavens with a terrible velocity, creating
| alarm in the minds of the ignorant, anC
exciting the wonder Of the learned as tc
their mysterious origin. The midnight
traveller far from the abodes Of men, il
sometimes startled with one of these bright
lights feeting a'hwart the horizon, then
as suddenly disappear leaving the dark.
ness more profound. These meteors as
they arc called, are far from being un.
common, or confined to any locaity-they
are seen in every part of our globe. I'm
der the name Of shooting stars" they
arc witnessed in clear evenings during
every month of the year, hut in this lati-
tude they are more numerous during the
month of August.-They have the ap-
pearance of celestial rockets running along,
(as has been measuredD at the awful veloc-
ity of 59,400 miles per hour They nre
strange messengers CT the skies, and no
satisfactory theory has yet been PROFOUND.
ed respecting their nature and source.
There are other meteors of very diff
ferent character from the shooting stars,
which have the appearance of being in
candescent solid bodies of various colors
rushing with less, but still great We.
locity, through our atmosphere. Some of
these are of considerable magnitude and
in their passage leave long trail of light
behind few have been observed to
burst into pieces, with loud report and
then disappear. Men of scientific attain
ments do not agree regarding their origin
but quite a number entertain the opinion
that they have been elected from the vol.
canoes Of the moon. In various parts of
the globe what are called meteoric store es'
have been found. They are go different
in their composition from any other stones
found on the surface of the earth that it
is not difficult to conclude they have been
shot from some celestial cannon, like the
craters of the moon. This was the opinion
Of La Place, and is now entertained by
our countryman, Prof. j. Lawrence Smith,
Of Louisville, Ky. He has analyzed
several metoric stones, obtained from diff.
ferent localities, and they appear to be of
the same composition, thus pointing to
common origin. In nature, form, and ap.
pearance they are Foreigners to the stones
and rocks among which they have been
found they ere mostly composed of nick.
elifereus iron, with a very thin oxyd on
the surface. Their component parts are
iron, S2,39 nickel, 1902; cobalt, 43 :
copper, .09 phosphorus, 16; silica, 46 /;
sulphur, .0S; magnesia, "a; chlorine,
o., some Of the nickel and iron were com.
bined with the phosphorus, forming schru-
bersite. One of these meteor stones,
found at Knoxville, Tenn, was so hard
that it was difficult to cut with fine saw
and it was very white in appearance,
owing to the presence of so much nickel.
1t is supposed that these werc projected
during some great eruption in the moon,
and driven far beyond the sphere Of our
satellites attraction may have been re.
volving in paths of their own for thousands
of years, until drawn within the influence
Of the earth, there at last to ind a resting
place. This is mere theory, to be sure
but to DR.. Smith who believes in it, he
can enjoy quiet chuckle at having pound
ed part of old Luna in his mortar, and
dissolved a fragment of her body in his
alembic. This theory is the most plausi-
BILE of any yet presented, but the the sub.
ject deserves further investigation.
In olden times the ignorant peasantry
regarded meteors as a sign of death to
conspicuous persons, such as chiefs and
kings but now they are beheld without
such feelings, but not without wonder.
Their mysterious origin imparts to their
appearance a deep and impressive interest.
-Scientifc american.