The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1867-11-19

To the Editor Of the Press:
The telegraph brought us accounts, publish
ed IN your paper last week. OF the splendid me- |
teoric exhibition Of the morning OF the l4th |
inst, as II was observed in various places, ana
have hoped to see some notice OF II as obserV-
ed here. As none such has appeared, have
thought IL worth while TO give a short account
OF il as seen from my own house. Inc nis'
seen Was shortly after O'clock, about a quar- |
,ar most Fr,,a this limo until "a quarter 10 4 \
,,.,'cl lLe,e ,neteors, or shooting stars appear
"A a t,,a rate Of nearly one in every two min
,.,s n, thai period 81 were counted, most OF
,bcp, very brilliant, and all moving in the us
uaI direction, viz, north. Immediately fol-
lowing the disappearance Of one Of the larg-
est and most brilliant, an explosion as loud as
pistol was heard, like that following meteorite
These We're observed from a window having
only northern and eastern exposure, and
from which those that took different course
could not be seen.
But all this was as nothing when compared
to the magnificent display which took place
after o'clock. At this time took my place
on the house top, where I had complete view
OF the entire heavens; and nothing could be
iHOic Suuililc anu bCstutHul tilau WON
derful phenomenon. From 4 o'clock 10
nearly O'clock it might well be called
meteoric shower, incessant and numer-
was the discharge. All, so far as OBJ
served, started from one and the same part
of the heavens the constellation Leo = the
same point from which all have appeared to
come in the various successive showers OF diff
ferent years. The great majority OF these me-
teors passed in uniform directlon-norther-
ly; while every minute a single one, OF unus-
llal size and splendor, passed in a direction at
right angles to these, namely, due west. To-
wards o'clock the number had diminished %
good deal, but occasional meteors were observ
cd until daylight During the period of the
greatest meteoric discharge the heavens were
beautifully clear; not single cloud in the
whole en.pyrean, save belt of white fleecy
clouds along the western horizon.
| Some uncertainty must always surround
our knowledge of this wonderful phenomenon.
! The belief entertained, however, by the most
| eminent men of science, seems to be that the
| source OF the great Ineteoric shower of 1888
| was a body possibly of great extent
ed of matter exceedingly rare, like the tail of a
comet; that it revolves about the sun within
| The orbit of the earth, its period of revolution
| being probably a little less time than q year;
that it revOlves in an elliptcal orbit, but little
| inclined to tho plane of the ecliptic, and hay
| ing its aphclion near The orbit OF the earth;
that in consequences Of its proximity on the
night in question, the extreme parts OF this
| body were detached and drawn towards our
globe by the force of gravity, and that these de-
soendiug fragments entered tho atmosphere of
| our earth with velocity ranging from about
fourteen to twenty miles per second; that
| these fragments were combustible, and in con-
sequence OF their amazing velocity, the air
was so powerfully compressed before them
that they took fire and were consumed before
reaching the earth. 5sh Tss-J t..f .
Those OF your readers who have attended
| philosophical lectures may remember an ex-
! pertinent in which finder or her infiammable
substance is ignited by the compressed air of
an air pump, when the piston is pushed sud
4 denly and powerfully down. In this expert
! lnenL the air is compressed to only one-fifth OF
its original volume. Upon the supposition
! that tho descending fragments compressed
the rarifed atmosphere at the height of 80
/ miles only to the density of common air, the
| amount OF neat ueNeiopeu aHouiu pei ao,VVO w
grees Fahrenheit, IN intensity nearly three
times greater than the highest temperature OF
| o glass-house furnace which is 10000 degrees
Fahrenheit.
In order to account for shooting stars i'll gem
| eral, including both their ordinary and extra
ordinarys display, and embracing the several
epochs, the views of Chaldni have been adopt
| ed by M. lArago and other eminent philoso-
| pliers. Chaldnis theory is, that besides the
| planets millions of small bodies are constantly
revolving about the sun, which become ignited
| when they enter the atmosphere of our earth.
| They are not considered to be uniformly
spread throughout space, but in some regions
| To be diffusely scattered, and in others group
| ed together in vast multitudes, forming zones
| Or rings around the sun, many OF which cross
| the path of the earth The ordinary nightly
| phenomenon of +" shooting stars" is then sup
1,osed TO arise, when tho earth, in her progress
| through the heavens, traverses those regions
which contain only few of these bodies; but
| when the zones are encountered, and the globe
/ passes amid countless numbers, the mete-
ors occasionally descend in magnificent show
! ers. Amid this vast collection solid masses OF
sn3hid oiIe OF these enter the atmosphere of
| the earth, u meteorfte with all its splendors
| sweeps across the sky. This, believe, is the
opinion in regard to these phenomenon. II
howeyever in tho progress OF scince, other
and more trustworthy views have obtained, l
do not doubt that some one OF your readers
| will inform us. ID.