New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-11-13
THE EXPECTED SHOWER OF METEoRS.


.e trouble see about Is shooting stars appear above
tbe horizon of any place during each hour those seen
IN the tropics shining brilliantly than those in
northern climates. They vary in color from fiery
red 10 blue and orange, while in climate about
two-thirds of them white. Meteors or fre-balis
are far less common than shooting stars, and their
brlancy often exceeds that Of the full moon. they
are generally followed by luminous train, ana theT
form changes vsibly before they disappear
Meteors which move impulsiyely genei2ny
burst at each bound, and III some III
stances the crash of the explosion is SO gre"'
that houses tremble as if shaken by an earthquake
Erolites, or meteoric stones are among INC oou'o'
which fall from the sky, but are less common 'iln
meteors: they vary in size from mans hst 10 SoV-
rrol cubic feet weighing sometimes many huhdte"e
nj no,rnds Marshal Bazaiue has found ana taken 10
Furone "a neteorte weighing more than three-qu"f-
tors of a tim; the British Museum possesses one
weighing no less than 81 tuns, found near Melbourne
The largest meteorite known lies on the pialh Oh
Tucuman in South America, and IS estimated at IA
r15 TINS of weight and is from seven to eight feet
in length The Chinese give the most ancient iecOfuS
of stonefas their accounts of shoong-stars extend
ING 10 6s7 b. c. According to n Monaghan tradition,
a black. rocky mass 40 feet high, fell from heaven
upon a plain in Western China The talllng
of stones and mineral masses from the SKY
was not believed without question mul
in 1908 fiery globe was to burst into fragments
nearly over the town of LAigle, IN Normandy; thou
sands of stones being scattered over an ehptca area
seven or eight miles long and about four miles Droao
the stones were hot and smoking, and the heaVlesV
weighed about Ia pounds. Another very remaIka-
bic fall occurred in 1851 i'll the Department OF 1onhe
globe of fire travelling rapidly through the air was
seen accompanied by several explosions ana STRONG
stmospheric disturbances. A man narrowly escaped
belup struck by fragment of the stone, which was
found buried deep in the earth Erolltes often IAN
from clear sky although a dark cloud Is geheIahy
observed around them. Something seems to depend
on the position Of the observer; thus meteor seen
from one place wholly free from Geloud or smoke
would in another place present itself in dark cloud
forming suddenly in clear sky The length OIL
time during which fre-balls which produce @rolteS
are visible has been variOusly estimated. Another
eurous circumstance connected with shooting stars
il that they are said to fall on certain occasions III
-1nuch greater numbers than on ordinary nights
The fall at COnstantnOpe, for instance, OF many
stars in 92 was put in connection with the death Oh
King Ibrahm Ben-Ahmcd, which took place on inc
night of the star shower. Another shower took place
over England and France in 1885, which was consid-
cred b. many rs a token oi Oods dispic"SuIo WI"
King William ii.
In REGARD to the theory for explaining the observed
pbe1omena the opinions and guesses OF individuals
and nations naturally differ. The Greeks favored
the view that shooting stars generated by VapOrs
ascending from the earth-an hypothesis susta ned
quite recently by modern philosophers; others again
conceived the notion that the mcteortes were pro-
iected to us from the sun, they saw them 1all IN
full sunlight. In the middle ages the phenomena
presented by shooting stars were explained IN not
very satisfactory manner and the ingenious Kepler
even who helped in laying the foundation OF modern
astronomy yielded to the old idea that these crate
shortyed bodies moving across the skies could not
belong to the family Of planets From the results oil
observations made by astronomers like Brandes,
H6is Schmidt Oilers, and others in regard to the
liGht of shooting stars Prof Newton and MI Her
sebel have calculated that shooting stars appear on
an average at a hight of ~ miles and disappear AT
biqht Of SO miles. 1t has also been observed that
shooting stars describe visible arc many mics III
length with an average velocity OF about u miles
ner second Meteors approach nearer TO the earth
than shooting stars and do not move quite so rapid
w. and although it is difficult to determine Their
actual size. these bodies seem to vary in diameter
from 100 to 1900 feet Close observations have
shown that these bodies generally gaseous during
their apparition.
One of the most remarkable facts is the recur-
renee of star-shOwers of greater less intensity on
certain days of the year 1t was for instance, OBJ
served long ago that the nights Of August 9th and
nth stars fell in much greater numbers than usual.
of more recent date but it is believed that 1851 will
turn out TO be the true year of maximum intensity,
and that fine showers will be during the years
1865 and 1SCa The analysis made of @rOlites shows
that they are combined of metallic iron, magnetic
iron oxide of tin slicates Divine &c The result of
aseries Of observations shows the suggested atmos
erc origin to be an theory, for the air at
hight Of 20 miles above the earth is believed to be
of extreme tenuity and therefore incapable Of sup
porting those vapors from which shooting stars on
this theory arc assumed to be gen rated. The theo
ries that shooting stars are bodies which have been
proiected from volcanoes on the earth
and the other that they have come from
volcanoes on the moon, have both been over
thrown by the results of modern observation
There is reason for tie suppostion that there are
zones and clusters of such bodies travelling round the
sunr in orbits which intersect the earth's path.
When in her course around the sun, she encounters
any Of the bodies forming such and clusters,
they are ignited by friction as they pass through the
upper layers of the air and become visible shoot
ing stars or meteors according to their dimensions;
or they may even fall upon her surface erolies.
1t has been remarked that shooting stars are much
mere commonly seen in the months from July TO De-
cember than those from January to June; also that
they are more commonly seen in the hours after mid
night and that erOlites fall more commonly before
The remarkable discovery lately made, that the
great November star stream travels in the track of
telescope comet that the August stream, in like
ner follows the track of the great comet Of 1862,
whose period is 142 years, and that other
shootingstaF systems show a similar relation to the
paths of other comets opens out the startling views
H. 10 al