OF A METEORIC FIRE-BALL. 
23 
description of the observations: “ The meteor was first seen on the line of Fourth 
Street, just by the cornice of a building which was noted at the time. Alt. 3° 45'. 
When 14° 30' from the line of the street, the altitude was 23° 45'. On the line 
of Broadway it was 52J° to 53°. The meteor passed behind the steeple (about 
one degree broad) 15° azimuth from the line of Fourth Street, at an altitude of 
24°.” The position on the line of Broadway was determined by the cornice of a 
building on the N. W. corner of Broadway and Fourth Street, the height of which 
above the eye of Mr. Prime was, according tp the measurement of Prof. Newton, 
64 feet, and the horizontal distance 45 feet. This gives an altitude of 54° 53'; 
but Mr. Lawson says, that the meteor passed “ for a second or two” behind the 
cornice, which would make the altitude less. In the calculations it is assumed 
that Fourth Street is perpendicular to Broadway, whose course, according to the 
map of the Harbor Commissioners, Prof. Newton says, is N. 32° 31' E., thus 
making that of the former street N. 57° 29' W. But the observations will be 
better satisfied, if we suppose them to vary a degree or so from right angles, so as 
to make the latter course about N. 58|° or 59° W. It was visible, according to 
the estimate of Mr. Prime, about 27 seconds. A correspondent of the New York 
World estimated it to be If minutes. Edward L. Gill, No. 281 Hudson Street, 
estimated it to be 1 minute. Reported time 9h. 40m. to 9h. 45m., more generally 
the latter. Mr. Prime compares the velocity to that of “ a flock of wild pigeons 
two hundred yards in the air.” 1 
Norfolk, Virginia, No. 11. An observer (name not reported) says it “appeared 
near the northern horizon.” 
North Haverstraw , New York, Lat. 41° 15', Lon. 73° 58'. Visible “about \\ 
minutes.” 
Norwalk , Connecticut, Lat. 41° 6', Lon. 73° 24'. It is stated, in an article in 
the New \ ork Herald, that a sailor saw it pass vertically over his vessel, on Long 
Island Sound, near this place. 
Norwich, Connecticut, Lat. 41° 33', Lon. 72° 7'. Visible “a full minute”— 
“ disappeared at a point about 15° east of the planet Mars.” 
Oberlin, Ohio, Nos. 73, 113, 114, 124, and 137. Communicated by Prof. J. H. 
Fairchild, as follows: “I am sorry that we have no exact measurements upon the 
altitude of the meteor. I had myself the pleasure of a fair view of it through its 
entire course along our sky, but did not think to raise the question of altitude 
until the next day. Prof. Morgan and myself were standing at the corner of 
the street, in conversation—my face toward the northwest. To my observation, 
the meteor did not rise from the horizon, but burst into view in the northwest, in 
the constellation Ursa Major, below the ‘ dipper.’ Its altitude could not have 
1 According to the calculated path, the meteor passed the meridian of New York at 9h. 47m. 
51 sec.—the interval between Mr. Prime’s first and last observation was 50 seconds ; and the apparent 
velocity the same as the pigeons would have at the distance of 200 yards, if flying at the rate of 
about 80 miles per hour. If the whole visible arc was passed over in 27 seconds, the pigeons would 
have to fly about 150 miles an hour in order to have the same apparent velocity as the meteor.