The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1885-11-20
METEORIC STONES.
AZ INQUIRY INTO THEIR HISTORY
AND ORIGIN.
Various Theories and the Reasons There
for The Well Known "Novembsr
stroam"-of Msteoric Stones
Shower Of Star Dust.
Hartford Tinesl

Hartford Times.l
The falling Of the huge one In western
Pennsylvania stone as large as an aver
age house-see ms 10 have excitsd some In
terest on the part OF many parsons to learn
something more about these strange and
dangerous visitors 1t L. rare that we hear
OF one Of such great sizo as this Pennsylva-
mia meteor; indeed one may almost ques-
tion tho truth Of the account But there
have been even larger ones though not,
probably, in modern times.
RED-HoT STONES.
The theory Of some persons that these
red hot stones have been thrown out Of some
volcano, and then been drawn back to the
earth'S surface by gravitation. Is wholly un-
tenabe. Tnese fiery rocks come from "other
worlds than ours" 1t Is not probable that
they are recent emanations from one of the
other planets; they are drawn, in all prob.
ability. by the earth's greater attraction,
out Of their place In some OF the great
meteor streams that revoive. like the earth
around the sum- each in its own orbit At
certain points In the annual journeys Of our
own world and Of these great streams Of
loosely aggregated rocks Of many sizes, the
two orbits evidently 30 nearly touch as to
make 1t possible for the globs on which we
live to capture some Of the meteoric bodies
which constitute the fringe or skirt, so to
speak, of the meteor stream.
THE NOVEMBER STREAM"
Once, on the 18th of November, 1888. our
globe must have actually bru,hed through
the thinner outer fringe Of the astonishing
aggregation which has sincs come to be
known among astronomers as the "Novem-
ber stream" in contradistinction to another
whose skirts we almost touch In August,
and which is called. therefore, the August
stream Other streams may exist. in the
interplanetary spaces, of which the astrono-
mers have no positive knowledge; or, there
may be irregular Masses or even endless
cases Of separate meteoric bodies, all rush.
ing around tho sun in different orbits. 1t Is
certain that countless millions Of these OBJ
jects, mostly quite small bodies, are actually
drawn in upon the earth. Most of them,
apparently. are burned up before reaching
the earths surface, and descend 10 an in
visible, impalpabls form Of exceedingly fine
dust
Occasionally this can be plainly seen-as
It was once, in the suburbs Of this city, only
ten days ago. when it seemed at first. shown
against tho afternoon sun, like a real
shower Of rain, only a rain from a clear
sky, but which quickly proved to be
shower Of dust so fue, that unless 1t
chanced to be seen against the sun it was
invisible. Mr.. Proctor. the astrono omer
holds this unseen falling meteoric dust to
have Teen an appreciabe, indeed an i'm
portant, factor involved in the problem
of the alleged growth Of the bulk Of our
planet. and has actually tried TO compute
something OF the rats and extent OF that
supposed increase.
LITERALLY "BURNT" UP,
However that may b.. our globe certainly
does capture an enormous number OF little
bodies One or more can be seen silently
streaming across the sky on almost any
clear, calm night; SOMETIMES q number Of
them-their seeming course across tho sky,
instead of plunging straight down, being
merely an optical effect, due to the angle
at which the appearance Is seen. Those
meteors entering the earth's atmosphere,
and plunging with more and more velocity
as they get nearer the surface, are heated
to a white heat (and thus made luminous
and visible) by the increased friction caused
by their increased spec and the increasing
density OF the air. Most OF them appear
literally burnt up" But some, usu.
ally the larger ones, hold out against
their own confagration till they burst
with great explosion, or plunge intact (but
red-hop into the ground-or the sea. With
out giving credence to tho western story, q
few years ago, Of a man being killed by one
Of these meteors. there Il still some small
degree of likelihood that such thing might
happen; a much lesser chance than the dan
ger of being struck by lightning. The Au-
gu train OF msteors Is computed to be 30, =
O00, 900 miles long-or about as long as the
di,tance from the earth to the sun. Others
are of unknown length.
Where do they originated The question
Is easily asked. The answer, while it Is one
about which we feel but little doubt, seems
to be not susceptible Of being sustained by
actual proof. These meteoric bodies appear
to be not exactly like any Of our rocks.
Many of them are more like kind Of half
vitreous @iron stone" than anything else;
they show the work OF heat, and ring,
on being struck by a hammer.