Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1866-12-26
The MeteorIc shoWer.
AS SEEN Az LONDON.

/ The MeteOrIc shower
AS SEEN AT LONDON.
Half London was awake till late
hour on Tuesday night for the purpose
of viewing the shower of stars or mete-
ors which the astronomers had pre-
dicted, and those who sacrificed few
hours of sleep were amply repaid, for
the atmosphere was unusually clear,
and thus the grand phenomenon was
seen under the most favorable circum-
stances. The wondrous sight began
soon after midnight, and from that
period until after five o'clock it was
witnessed with but few intervals of time.
Sometimes eight or ten stars would be
seen gliding in various directions, leaV-
ing long lines of light; at other mo-
ments a single meteor would be dis
covered. The colors varied. Many of
the meteors appeared to have yellow
ish light, others a deep red. So near
did some of them appear that their re-
semblance to rockets occurred to every
one, and we almost seemed to listen
for the rush through the air. During
the transit of the meteors the light of
the other stars was scarcely to be no
ticed. The effect produced during the
simultaneous passage of meteOrs in the
various parts of the heavens was inex-
pressibly impressive. The nOiseless
course gave a thrill that no artificial
splendors could ever produce. The
size of these shooting bodies varied
In some cases the passage was brief and
the light faint; In others a larger por-
ton of the sky was traversed, and the
luminousness both prolonged and in
tense. The soft gliding motion, if such
a term may be employed, was a striking
Standardization Morning Post,
NoU. 18th.
AS SEEN AT GLASGOW.
Shortly after one o'clock on the NOR
ming of the l4th, the heavens every
where became beautifully clear, and we
had the good fortune to obtain hence
forward a msgnifcentand uninterrupt-
ed view of the phenomenon. At lh.15m
the heavens had assumed an extreme
ly imposing aspect. Multitudes of
beautiful meteors were now everywhere
visible, but especially in the eastern
region of the heavens, where the con-
stellation Leo was to be seen as he
gradually assembled in his course to-
wards the meridian. Hundreds of the
meteors far surpassed in brIlliancy the
stars of the first magnitude. In multi
tudes of instances they were brighter
than Jupiter, and some of them even
equaling Venus when she is at her
greatest brilliancy. Their prevailing
color was white, but some had a yellow
ish tinge of light, while others had a
blush tinge. In every instance they
were accompanied by q straight mar
row train of well defined light, of a
beautiful emerald green color. The
/ length of the train varied much for
different meteors. Many of them ex-
tended over an arc of 80. deg. 40 deg.
or so deg. and some were even Of still
greater length. As stated, they were
almost without exception straight in
the direction of the length, and their
courses among the stars presented clear
indications of the emanations of the
meteors from a common region of the
heavens situated somewhere in the
constellation Leo. The meteor in every
case first presented itself to observa-
ton, and then as it pursued its course
westward through the heavens it was
seen spinning out its beautiful train of
green light. In general the meteor
and its train were visible for about
three or four seconds, but in some in
stances they continued in view as long
as five seconds. At l hour Ism. a
whole group of brilliant meteors was
seen to burst out and diyerge like fan
from the radient point in Leo. At In.
20m. | counted the number of meteors
visible in one minute, and 1 found
them to amount to 81; but this in all
probability did not exceed one-third
of the number really visible in every
part of the heavens. Shortly after
wards it became evident that the earth
had passed through the tbiekest Of the
shower. At III. Bonn. the number Of
meteors counted in a minute amounted
10 80. At 1h. 35m. the number count
ed in two minutes amounted to 43, or
y in a minute. At Oh. Am. the num-
Der counted in a minute amounted
to only Is. At 2h. 42m. the most re-
markable phenomenon of this kind
! presented itself to US in the eonstella-
tiOn of Ursa Major, but fortunately
none of US caught the commencement
of it. The blazing of light which this
meteor emitted at the time of vanish
/ ing was extraordinary. 1t left behind
it a curved residue of faint light of
sensible breadth, and having the form
| of a horse shoe, the extremities of
which at first embraced epsilon and
gamma Urse Msjoris, but as it gradu-
ally grew fainter it expanded in dimen-
slons until ultimately before vanishing
one extremity embraced epsilon Urse
Majoris, while the other extremity
reached as far as alpha and beta of the
same constellation (the two pointers
This singular phenomenon continued
visible in the heavens for 20 minutes
after it first attracted our attention
At 3h. the number Of meteors visible in
minute had diminished to two or
three. At Al. Bonn. only one meteor
was visible every two or three minutes.
At 5h. the starry heavens might be
said to have assumed their normal as
pect, and our task as observers of this
magnificent phenomenon was now
clearly ended. 1t was Obvious that
the earth had passed through the main
port of the meteorie shower between
the hours of one and two o'clock. 1t
may be remarked that the eonstella-
ton Leo indicates the region of the
heavens in the direction of which the
earth is at present travelling, in virtue
of its annual motion round the sum-"
OVer-Eating.
Health and longevity are not the
only results of moderation in diet. Its
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