The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1891-06-27
The Origin 81 ,nc.eorifes.

the moon.
These suggestions do not holi good
when we consider the enormous Initial
Felocity, the great number, direction
nd periodicl occurrences OF these
hen0mena.
For the same reasons, Is 1t lmposSi-
,lr that they should be fragments OF
str; vel sd se.lit IL second noon
-unrosed to have reyolved around our
,ltnrt in past ages, or yet that they
re d:mInutive. independent planets OF
,ur soltr system.
The hypothesis that they are identl-
cal with shooting stars and comets IS
the one accepted almost Universally by
scientific men.
Most important discoveries tending
TO prove this assumption were made
~ Sciiaparelli, showing that shooting
stars, as well aS meteoriteS. are SOlid
bodies, which enter the atmosphere OF
oar earth with an immenca velocity
and become luminous leciuse OF the
resistance offered by the ar.
1t has been calculated that they usu-
ally appear ut a height OF about seven
" MI 5 above the earth and disaI pear
at a high, Of fifty miles. Thu caust OF
their disappearance or eAtlnguisiiihS
is to be looked for eitl!er in their once
more leaving our atmosphere, or that
Nv h. tinrna
generated BY their extremely rapid
flight and the great resistance offered
by the atmosphere.
The latter assumption would account
for the continuous fall Of cosni; dust
upon the surface of our globe.
The velocity with wEicl they enter
and pass through our atmCtl here is
enormous 1t is many times faster
than sound, the flight of a cannon bail
and even the planets revo,vil Il around
the sun.
The earth travels throu I'll space at
the rate of 10 miles per sc ;ond. Mer-
curry the fastest planet covers 299S
miles per second, while a meteorlte
which fell at PultuSk, Russia. lad a
velocity Of :3'7s miles per secoud,
although it had to overcome the le' S
tance of the air. In space, cosaquent-
Is. it must have Travelled still faster.
To clearly understand the high &c
gree of velocity implied by these figur-
IS 1t is well to add that the fastest cy-
clone scarcely reaches 100 feet per see
ond. at which rate it eXerts a pressure
Of about 50pounds per square foot.
1t now rema ms to explain the assum-
ptiOn that IN tteorlteS an ii shooting
stars are identical, IN 10 quote the
facts upon which the assum: tiol is
based.
We know that both are solid bodies
which enter our atmosphere from
without, AMI tina they be CONF lumin
Gus for the same reasol.
Furthermore, t e sOSm!c iron dust
observed in localities where its origin
caulel not lee Goubted has been found
10 nave tie same chamicalc, IMPOSITION
Is larger pieces OF met ore iron seen
to fall by IN .;npelch&jla witnesses.
1t cannot be denied that there is a
very great contra i between thu 1.-the
star that silently g'ides through space
and nois"lessly disappears and the terri
fying appearance OF Il ball Of fire, that
approaching with deafening detonat-
ionS, sends down on us a hail of stones.
Both speCtacieS, however, are Int
The extremes of IA chain of closely con
na@tCd phenomena. Considering with
what extreme velocity these bodies pass
through the atmosphere, ii is not diff
cult to comprehend that particles, ana
those having the creates momentum,
are destroyed long before they strike
the earth, and at such 4 height that
he moss, of their passage and disinte
Grafton becomes inaslllble to us here
below.
We find further confirmation for
the bcl;efe TINT both of these phenom-
eua have the same source in the well
established fact, proved in many in
stances, that the direction of the mete-
orites corresponds TO that Of shooting
stars observed at the same time, and
points to Il common of radiation.
The detonationS accompanying the
fall of a meteorita have three distinct
causes: The whiZZing IS caused by its
rapid passage through the air; the
cracking, by the combustion Of the
materials composing it; and the thun-
dering, by columns of air rushing into
the vacuem which it leaves behind
+. G. ION I'etersdot, ii Great d ride.