, 1876-07-22

mass Of the particle. Thu fragments fall to
The earth, chiefly III the fern If dust, which -
s@y y s1se ts msi:srs ars pu' so .nal IN proay
weighing no more LINN single grain, that
they disappear in falling without explod-
lug, being. burnt out before. they arrive
evrr, lhe mass b largo enough. mud sufficiently
cohcstye, then II 10 not ultllcutt problem in
mathematics to calculate which Way It will
nuvc, II wa can know tts original direction and
10 tho familiar fart that the earth attracts =
siUne ncur her surface with a force capable OF
making It fall through l1 feet In ono second,
U feet In two sec0nds, 14i feet IN three seconds,
nd 50 on ron It'll ad thts ,n9 slf Of
surface 'lenaa Just about as mucl.. as TIC stons
wv,ld fall In one second. Therefore, II q me-
tcor be moving near the carth's surface, and
parallel to II, with vclocity ol less than
velocity he grentcr than q miles. the earth's at
tractiof, will not bend the meteur dowDwaris 10
rarlltly as the eartl!'B surface curvos, and the
meteor will rceete from the earth. In the pres
idly than this limit when moving parallel with
tu surface, therefore passed uilt again tut1
space. Tbs principle above atatet IL applicable
IN every dasc, though tho calculation may be
sometimes rather tedious onc.
HEAT AND LUMINOSITY.
The friction VI tho atmosphere rnnde the me.
tcor lncaplcscent; and this c1n also b. made
tile subject oi eniculaelon--almost Us close -
VIC p'case. We knnw. that the force needed TO
stop vclteity Of 223 feet per second is equal to
that required to ra!ac the, temperature uf IN
eq,,al weight Of wnter, ono degree Fahrenheit;
ard, as In the other case, the force required H.
crcases with the square u the velocity. An
n,G00 degrees above the actual zero, glows with
d white heat. Calculating on these figures as 4
basiswe find that the conversion Of velocity OFF,
miles per second int9 heat, gives the cqulvalent
fn,s- IT, HLfs.
We '.aye the motion retarded to the extent Of
so,ac 20 nifss s pS, SECOND, wlllel! Developer not
large body The friction must heat tho
surface .I11,lt: tnush more rapidly than the
breaking up Of tle exterior, a. thu surfacc Of
particles were left bcsllnd-swept of, as the
wind sweeps of thc dust from tho rock,-and
formed tiss Visible trail Of tho meteor. which
.'lastcd :" till those particies llal tuo1cd down
below tho incandescent point, by radiation Into
the surrounding air. The tremendous effect of
this Matchmaking "tlcstr1Ictlon Ut motion niay
be inferred from thu fact that some observers
saw that fncanlcsecnt trail-Witncsscd the CoIi-
tinted luminosity uf the separated pnr,lcles,-
for fully forty-1ye minutes, and one or two saw
It for even lougcr period; though In The i'll
must must b mich I'M norc p rapd than n s any tempera.
ture VIC experience on thts cartlls surface,
taome of tho debris ,nny be driven OF III
Jumps, t1!tl he projected Some distance from the
line over which the principal n,nss travels. One
such lump Ii reported to haYe descended at
South Dc.'a.] ...--..
OTHER MErEons.
The past two weeks have been unusually pro-
life In brilliant metcors. One was seen In the
the one which excited 50 much Interest In tha
Wcst-and the pubIfsledreporta indicated that II
wns almost equally brilliant. Several others
have been seen IN this scctlolt-from all Of which
thing the matter" As theT understand the con-
clus!on they arc altogether wrong, and just us
foolish ~ the scafarer WHO should infer that
Eome dire disaster was ntAih to lappcn because
around the sides II bis ship. kcplcr suggested
TINT there may be as lunny comets iii tho
heavens a. there arc nshes In the ocean, md
modern sclencc confirms tho MISUNDERSTANDING
neteotlc bodies with the comets. The universe Is
swnrming with matter, ua our world Is tcsrning
wlthlifc; and It Is only under unustlal conditions
that VIC call bero,nc gognizaut of the one, Just
us VIC nrc obliged to employ the microscope Ia
rder to perceive Tic existence of tile other fact
The occurrence Of two or three unusually brill
innt nct1orlc exhibitions may be Of more inter-
est to Us, but Ia of M more importance IN tic
economy Of Nature, than the falling Of a few
extraordinarily large snowtiakcs during storm.
The Idea that thuy hare increased the tenper,l.
turc Of "the heated term" Ia equally rIllcu-
lous with the fancy that tho rushing Of tho mo
tcUr Of July WIS hn1rd by those who witnessed
It's passage. Heat is chiefly communicated Nl,-
wards; aud the sound Of the meteor would oc-
ctpy alout FIVE minutes In travelling TO our cars
through dhtante nj Us miles.
LUCID EXPLANATION.
Those OK our readers WHO nra not satisfied
with the above explanation of the mcteorie pho
no,ncnor, may pcrllaps inl 10 be- acceptable the
following, whfrl, VIC select from our correspond
cnco on tic subject:
"a meteor IS q body that flies or floats In the
OR Us eloula, but create, momentn1n and lu-
those bodies which, exploding with 1uuu
noise, throw off stones to tho earth; also to
shooting stars nnl tho 1gnis Futuus. From
careful Investigation Of at'1lospl!crc phcnon,nna
Ing uucoptrovertlblU facts Particles Of hight
or,Anc matter, tI0ating In space by atmospheric
infuenccs cohcrr md decc,l into liwrr stratus OF
air strike tho electrical current and IRE stati0n-
ThEs, shaped like ball uul in seasons like this,
kecoes highly electrified, bursts a,ll files of IN
tangencttcal lincs through space, md WHEN tho
!1!oun Is nt full, prcsents u very beautiful and
highly pltenomltlcai, appearance. This Is aI-
MATER!AL Fon NOVEL.
Many people object u tho study Of astronomy
tlat It Is dry md unIntcrestIug. They think It
IL almost exclusively matter q sines and tat,;;
gents, and other l1lathe'natical functions, and
eanrot possibly prcscnt anything beyond tho
prosafc, There may be certain departments OF
tho science which dG not ct,mpare isl i'otnt Of
ALLFnCL!Vcncaa Wl[N LlG iIoVuthr novel Dlt I'LL.
loubtctlly Others dn uffur q wider Acll for tic
exercise Of the imagtnation tl,anany eyer sketch
I'd out by Dickens Or Shakespeare, Take tlis
meteor, for INSTANCE, and SEQ to what wonderful
results VIC arc lcsl By the comparison OF few
facts, md tho handling OF few
figures, which can be done by many
schoolhoy: What strange contrasts
drawn between tho conditions Of The peer and
tue peasant! Let the rcader perch himself IN
fancy upon our n,ctcnr lt!,eru is ample room)
and a4cnnpany It IN Us 1onrneyinss through!
apacet lie may rAss in review thu flight Of
centuries; but the brief period If slx ,nonths
carries 1!n through far more widely varied ani
were ever grouped Into the 100 times longer du.
ration of llte ofn nropulas hero. lie can almost
realize ths tdea of tho latiy who proposed TO he
entertained with history OF tho world, related
III tive minutes on the way from the ballroom
to the supper table.
A CARD.
CHICAGO, July 2l.-A New York Associated
Press dispatch from San Francisco appears In
tho press Of to-day, which was sent for thc OBJ
vous purpose Of impugung thu integrity and