Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1868-12-03
esTttBs anO slIIsteIlaillJ.
METEORIc SHOWERS.
Ancient nEeteors--The Brilliant ID
plnY OF Saturday Morning. :.

Meteors and meteoric showers are very
ancient phenomenon. There are records
of them among the Chinese nearly 700
years before our era. 9From that time To
the year 1888 A. D. the astronomers Of the
same people record the fall OF 16 erolites
Or fallen stones precipitated by the explo-
sion Of rneteoric or cosmical bodies. The
Greeks and Romans, during the same pc
riod, count but four such masses, while we
n,oderns have become quite familiar with
them; if not in the shape of erohtes,
then ass1nedly in that OF nieteors, as the
falling showers of 1866, 1857, and now
of November, 1868, abundantly prove. II
Is more than probable that these Ishmael-
ties of the celestial Wilderness nre frag-
ments OF old worlds, with which, moving
III irregular orbits, the interplanetary and
intefstellar spaces are crowded; and that
approaching the earth, or any planet of
powerful glavitation, they are disturbed in
their career, and fall into Che attracting
body with conclusion which generates
within them u terrific and almost molten
heat. This is Prof. Nichols's theory of
these cosmical bodies, when they descend
as aerolites; and Laplaee thought that they
belonged to the moon, and were projected
from her volcanoes with such violence as
to bring them within the sphere OF the
earth's attraction. raa
There are tens of thousands Of these lu-
minaries, however, which do not fall to the
earth, but appear and disappear in the
heavens with an inconceiyable velocity in
perfect storm of light and color. It is
very curious, however, to consider that the
component parts Of suchbodies, while they
present no new elements, contain large
number of terrene metals in singular COM
bination, the chief of which is iron, vary
ing from 50 to 80 per cent, of their entire
weight. Nickel, cobalt copper, phosphor-
Gus, silica, alumino, zinc, chlorine, are
likewise constituents of these bodies, and
late investigation has discovered lead also
among them. n
Shooting stars are not at all uncommon
during any fine boreal night. But the
grand display rs Of some mighty review,
which appeared, in the heavens on the
night of Friday and the morning Of Satur-
day last, is arare occasion at once strange,
startling, and sublime. During the same
month of tho two previous years we had
similar exhibitions it is true, but upon
scale of less vistness and magnificence.
Indeed since Admiral Erusensterns "fre
ball as described in his Voyage" and
the tremendous meteor of 1876, which APP
peared in Germany and passed over Italy
from the direction Of Dalmatia, disappear
ing toward Corsica, and exploding in q rain
of fiery stones, and mighty fragments like
the ruins Of demolished world, in the sea
near Leghorn, it is not improbable that
few meteors have been seen so large, bril-
liant and enduring as that which burst
from the heavens in the northeast on Sat
urday incoming at about one o'clock. There
is something so mysterious and solemn in
the appearance Of these heavenly heralds,
and their beauty is so strange and start
ling, that they carry the mind of the ordi,
nary observer captive, and prevent HIM
for the most part, from taking such note
of their shoWings as would be'usefur to
science. We had the pleasure of seeing
the radiant meteor we speak of from the
commencement of its appearance toits final
vanishment AS we said, it burst from the
northeastern heavens in the form Of q
sphere, and Of the apparent size of the
moon, if not larger. A mighty globe of
golden fire, it tore through the blue i'm
mensity with q speed that would have been
appalling, if, in describing its course, it
had not left dazzling and most beautiful
track OF light, which became more and
more intense, up to q certain point, as it
proceeded, and finally burst into balls of
crimson, purple, green and. amber. For
such an evanescent body, its light and
color lasted for u notable length Of time
and even when the blue void had swallow
ed up its glory, there lay behind il bright,
dense, silver smoke all along the line of its
transit. .
We watched this wonderful trail for more
than half an hour AT first it seemed i'm
movable; then It assumed theform of.some
vast apocalyptical serpent and lay prone
over half the starry region, in whose pro
found recesses the meteor itself had disap-
peared Slowly it shifted its position, and
described an undulating hue of great
beauty, which was heightened by the star
light that shone through its dim, white and
misty folds In che course OF a quarter Of
an hour it adagonized into q perfect fig
ure of eight, and finally it assumed well.
defined letter S. which it retained for ten
minutes longer, and then, gathering its
outlines together, it crushed them into a
formless mass, and in forty minutes had
vanished from the field of vision. Bu
while this splendid symbolism and its
] transformations were going on, all thu
wombs of that part of the heavens whence
they proceeded were giving birth-in criel
which were the most brilliant colors-tC
many more of these beautiful objects.
/
"Within whose sunny veins
The blood was running bright"
And look when we would and where w
would in the right direction, they flashed
/ before us like the couriers of some myste
rious sublime army. On they came from
the deserts OF Leo and the regions of Tau
rus and Gemini, flying toward the south
east, and vanishing in those immensities
while others exploded overhead, orossin
each other and describing grand arches c
light, until at times the zenith looked as
rainbows had burst over it. The displa
began as early as o'clock, and between an
5 the next morning was the greatest perio
; of their PROFESSIONS and flying glories.
The general focus appeared to beet q
angle OF about Is degrees above the hor
zon. gradually rising toward the zenitl
until at dawn itswas nearly overhead. W
witnessed the movements of at least thirt
meteors in the space of rather more tina
! half an hour. There was bright norther
} light like wall of nebule against the no
izon, and about quarter past 12ra gl'
} riously-eolored meteor sped along i
! nights in line due south; about 10 deg
perhaps not quite SO much, above the no
izon Those who beheld this wondrol
/, astronomical show from an eminence, de
cribe it as glorious beyond wors to pi
! tnre it; as if the gods had turned out on
9 holiday, and were amusing themselves Wi
I; a vast and gigantic scheme Of pyrotechnic
OF course the scene, being upon so e
tensive u platform, was beheld all over Il
/. States, and at Boston $500 meteors we
counted between2 2 and o'clock a.
4 Sun, 1eih. ~ .eifa .-f-ss
Z The Wedding Day Arrives, but no Bird
+ aai groom Appears. sais.
For severalc days the public have be-
! busy manufacturing scandal on account
= the disappearance of Thos. Waddal an j
. pnranna anIicitor NJ thiq nitv' who Nvas gn