Litchfield enquirer., 1860-07-26
REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS
The Eclipse and the Meteor.

Ihe EcAlpse and the Meteor.
 Last week was productive of two remarkabl ! '.enomena, one of which is none the less su, :: sing and wonderful because it's advent wa :edicted by mathematicians to the nicety of |. 'arter second, but the other perhaps nor Wonderful in that it was phenomenon whicl ''o one can predict or even account for, and whcl i'iay be seen but once in a life time. We allude ..f course, to the solar eclipse and the remarka ..!.,, meteor of Friday night.
 Tn another column we give succinct and in resting account from the Haryord Comant o ae appearance of this same eclipse in 1906 .''len it was total in this County, and the centr ''f which passed across New Preston, few mile ""ly to the south of us. We may beg pardon remarking, by the way, that perusal of tn, 7,count reminds US forcibly of anotser eclipse il 'ew Preston, and of total darkness and indes ..ibable dampness under which, sce, like chick ITS, "took roost" in the manner described in oul t paper!
 But to turn to the meteor of Friday evening. :: suddenly burst upon the vision, as if lighted in mid air. at point of the heavens little north [. west, in appearance about as large as large fre-ball" and of the same pale, white light. It ;,,ssed slowly and majestically through the ]; ;avens, apparently but a few hundred feet above 'l,, though it must have been in reality as many ses, and taking direct course east by south ( st, as it passed directly over us it seemed to vide itself into smaller globules of fire, like the ,roppings of rocket, only that they all held the same horizontal course wth their pioneer, the hole emitting bright, clear light, which cast |: reflection upon the trees and house-tops over shich it moved until finally it was lost to sight ir the far eastward.
 1t was sight the most magnificent and grand, and all of our readers who were so fortunate as 10 observe it, cannot soon forget it's majestic. march, as it swept on through the illumined at-, aosphere, or the awe-inspiring effalgence with which it glowed and sparkled with it's unknown properties of light and substance.
 Our exchanges bring us accounts of it's being witnessed in other and distant localities at al- most the precise moment at which it was observ- cl here. It was seen in New York, in Hart f'rd and New Haven, seemingly at the same dis 'nces above the observers there, and holding ;ae same course. It was also observed through s'ut this County, and through the State, thus demonstrating at least the fact that it must have passed above us at a vast distance in the heavens.
 Very similar remarkable meteors have been observed before, at long intervals however, in various parts ot the world Often they have iound their way to the earth with rushing noise as of thunder or of an earthquake, and have up on examination been found to be huge masses of 2 kind of porous stones, varying in size and den. sity from few inches to three hundred ieet in diameter, and from an ounce to eleven Hundred pounds.
 One of these large stones fell few years since s'ear this town, and was examined by Professors Silliman and Kingsley of Yale College. The present meteor it is possible fell in the Atlantic, 'hich, saving the damage it might have done lad it fallen somewhere on the land, is unfortu- nate and certainly a loss to science, though aving of time and journey to excited but never satisfied Savans. '
 Various hypotheses are conjectured as to the nature and origin of these remarkable meteors. certainly the substances of which they are aormed differs in marked degree from any fos- tl combinations we find on our earth. When Rrst fallen, these meteoric stones appear to be hot and possess strong sulphurous edor, but ;fter time they become cooler, and, on investi- aation, assume the appearance of porous iron ere, with combinations of nickle and olyine. A species of chrysolite. Itsspecifc gravity is much less than that of forged iron and its grain is much smoother and more maeable than iron ore
 by some, their origin is ascribed to an accu- 7huatlon of volatile matters in the ais which lccome ignited by electricity, and bursting, scat Ter their fragments to the earth by others it is ronjectured that these meteors are igrited par t'cles thrown upward from our earth by volcanic @ction, and with such force as to be hurled at Fast distances, and to such heights that they seem to touch the heavens, and to be thrown ack from them again to the surface of ou, globe.
 But the boldest, and yet the most plausible theory of shooting stars seems to be, that they gre thrown by volcanic action from the Moon,- ''a o''en With such force, that escaping from
 ans "o''on of our satellite and through it's atmos there, which it is conjectured has little or no ''ens'ty' the particles come within the sphere of our attraction and are borne, still luminanz and saething, to the strange surface of on, nlonat
 Which supposition, if it be true, we m;oht mot, the basis ofa suggestion, that it would he o.n i:al method for the long-venerated pentleman !, the moon to send us down an occasional h..o, of despatches- We should be hannv |, return with copy of the Wiasted Heraid an, other luminous journals better adapted to tn ttnatic sphere than to ours, if we can discoye an equally advantageous method of transport!
 But not to make our article too long, or to learned, we may say simply, at the end of it, tha 'he study of meterology opens to us all branc of science the most interesting and curious, an we are greatly indebted either to the Moon 0 to some unknown cause, partly for this, and fo The brilliant and unusual display of Friday night
 as We have received communication in re liy to Hamilton's" animadyersions upon tn Administration from an oss...s s-....