about 10 or 12 diameters of the body. In the clear sky, there was a brisk scintillation about it, like a firebrand carried against the wind. It disappeared about 15° short of the zenith, and the same number west of the meridian. It did not vanish instantaneously, but grew fainter, as a red-hot cannon ball would do, cooling in the dark, only much more rapidly.

"About 30 or 40 seconds after this, three loud and distinct reports, like those of a four-pounder, near at hand, were heard. They succeeded each other rapidly, and did not occupy above three seconds. Then followed a continual rumbling, like a cannon-ball rolling over a floor, sometimes louder and sometimes fainter."

There were six places where stones fell on this occasion; the most remote, nine or ten miles from each other. One fell on a rock of granite with a loud report. It was broken into fragments, thrown to the distance of 30 feet, some part reduced to powder. One mass of this fall was found sunk two feet below the surface of the ground. Of the masses found, two weighed 35 lbs. each; one, 25 lbs. From the fragments found of one, it was thought it must have weighed nearly 200 lbs.

A great similarity is found in these stones, when examined chemically, in different parts of the world, where they had fallen. But they are very different from the other stones on the surface of the Earth.

Much speculation has been excited respecting the origin of the aerolithes. Prior tells us, "The most prevalent opinion among modern philosophers is, that they are concretions actually formed in the atmosphere itself." But that such solid and weighty bodies should be formed in the rare medium of the atmosphere, would be more wonderful than the falling stones themselves. Some have supposed they originate in the asteroids.

Perhaps the most probable opinion is that of La Place," that the stones are projected by lunar volcanoes

within the sphere of terrestrial attraction." The Moon is but 240,000 miles from the Earth. The force of attraction in different bodies is as the quantity of matter. Of this, that of the Earth is to that of the Moon as 1 to .025. Hence the neutral ground between the two bodies must be vastly nearer the Moon than the Earth. Whenever matter thrown up by a volcano from the Moon, passes this ground, it must irresistibly be drawn to the Earth.

The luminous meteors usually denominated shooting stars seem different in their origin, and to be of species different from aerolithes, or falling stones. In some instances, in which these meteors have appeared in immense numbers, for many hours in succession, and over an extensive region, no falling stones have been discoyered, nor any traces been found where they have marked the Earth.

Several noted instances of these meteors have occurred in modern times. An account of one is given by Humboldt, witnessed by himself and Bonpland at Cumana in South America. "The night of the 11th of November, 1779, was cool and extremely beautiful. Toward the morning, from half after two, the most extraordinary luminous meteors were seen towards the east. Bonpland, who had risen to enjoy the freshness of the air in the gallery, perceived them first. Thousands of bolides, fireballs, and falling stars, succeeded each other during four hours. Their direction was very regular from north to south. They filled a space in the sky extending from the true east 30° towards the north and south; some of them attained a height of 40°, and all exceeded 25° or 30°. There was very little wind, and no trace of clouds to be seen.'

Phenomena similar to those seen by Humboldt were extensively observed on the Atlantic ocean and the gulf of Mexico, on the 12th of November, 1799. The following account of these has been extracted into our papers from the Newburyport Herald of that year. It was given by Captain Woodman, of the brig Nymph.

"On my passage home from the island of St. Domingo, being in lat. 29° lon.710, on the 12th of November, at half past one o'clock in the morning, the weather being very clear and pleasant, the wind to the eastward, the moon near the full, and shining very bright, observed the stars to shoot in great numbers from every point of the compass; and at 2 o'clock the whole atmosphere appeared to be full of stars,-I may say thousands of thousands,—shooting and blazing in all directions—in a most extraordinary and alarming manner, and so continued till day-light. On my arrival at the Vineyard, I' met with several masters of vessels, who were on their passage at the same time, and said, that the stars made the same appearance to them, on the night above mentioned, though they were then several degrees to the northward of me.' This account was dated Newburyport, December 20, 1799.

These phenomena of November 12th, 1799, were witnessed by Mr. Ellicott, when a commissioner to settle the boundary line between the United States and the Spanish possessions in North America. He describes them as 66 grand and awful. The whole heavens appeared as if illuminated with sky-rockets, which disappeared only by the light of the Sun after daybreak. The meteors, which, at any one instant of time, appeared as numerous as the stars, flew in all possible directions, except from the Earth."

Captain Hammond, and his crew, when at Mocha in Arabia, on the 12th of November, 1832, witnessed a similar display of luminous meteors, and described them in similar language.

The citizens of these United States will long remember the night of the 12th, or the morning of the 13th of November, 1833. The brilliant exhibition of luminous meteors, which adorned the canopy from the St. Lawrence to the gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Rocky mountains, perhaps has never been surpassed in the time of its continuance, or in the richness and grandeur of its appearance.

The display seems to have commenced earlier, as seen from the southern, than from the northern sections of the Union. The following account is extracted from the Charleston Mercury of November 14th, 1833. "Those who were up before the dawn yesterday witnessed a most glorious sight, one glance at which were worth ten years of common life. The temperature of the day before had been oppressive, the mercury ranging as high as 78 degrees. At night, the atmosphere became cooler, but not so much as to make a fire necessary for comfort. About 10 o'clock, P. M., shooting stars were observed to succeed each other with unusual frequency, and continued to appear at short intervals during the night. But at about 3 o'clock in the morning, the wind, which had been from the west, having changed, and blowing with some freshness from the northeast, there was a burst of splendor throughout the firmament, and its entire concave was thronged with innumerable meteors, streaming athwart each other towards the horizon in every quarter, leaving long trains of light, as if millions of rockets were incessantly exploding. The literal shower of stars continued till day-light, exploding in glittering confusion, as if the whole starry host were reeling madly from their spheres.

"While this grand and beautiful spectacle lasted, a permanent light, as strong as moonlight, was thrown through the windows of our chambers, and, although the sky was without a cloud, there were flashes, from time to time, of the most vivid lightning. The unusual light roused many from their beds, some supposing that the city was on fire. While every spectator must have gazed with feelings of awe, some were astonished into the liveliest terror."

There is a striking coincidence of expression in the description of these phenomena in different and distant parts of the country. How far they were visible beyond the limits of the United States is not yet ascertained. They are described as having appeared splendid at St. George's Bank, three hundred miles from the

coast.

The astonishing displays of meteors seen at different times, 1779, 1799, 1832, and 1833, all appeared at the same time of the year, or within a single day of the same time. This is worthy of notice and philosophic inquiry.

The cause of these phenomena, these showers of luminous meteors, evidently distinct from aerolithes, seems now demanded from every quarter, by the wise and the simple, the learned and the unlearned. Many hypotheses have been formed on the subject. Dr. Halley conjectured "that a stratum or train of inflammable vapor, gradually raised from the Earth, and accumulated in an elevated region, suddenly took fire, and, burning like a train of gunpowder, exhibited the meteoric phenomena." The late President Clap of New Haven supposed fiery meteors to be terrestrial comets, revolving about the Earth. But his attention must have been fixed on others, and not on these showers of meteors. A learned professor, wishing for more information concerning the late meteors, thinks "it evident, that the point from which the fireballs emanated was beyond the limits of our atmosphere; that the balls were projected obliquely into the atmosphere; that they were not at first luminous, but became so, and more and more so, as they reached the denser parts of the atmosphere, until they exploded, or burst asunder; and that they consisted of luminous vapor, such as, after explosion, remained suspended in the air."

But the most probable conjecture seems to be, that these meteors are electrical phenomena.

The state of the atmosphere is to be considered. The weather was warm for some time previous to the late display. On the day preceding, it was almost sultry. In the afternoon, there were gusts of wind, attended with sudden showers of rain, and lightning. "The atmosphere seemed to be saturated with electricity."

To account for these meteors on the principles of electricity is not new. Dr. Rees informs us, that "Dr.