An account of a surprizing meteor, seen in the air, March the 6th, 1715/16, at night. Containing, I. A description of this meteor, from the author's own observations. II. Some historical accounts of the like meteors before; with extracts from such letters, and accounts of this, as the author has receiv'd. III. The principal phænomena of this meteor. IV. Conjectures for their solution. V. Reasons why our solutions are so imperfect. VI. Inferences and observations from the premises / By William Whiston, M. A.

  • Whiston, William, 1667-1752.
Date:
1716
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An account of a surprizing meteor, seen in the air, March the 6th, 1715/16, at night. Containing, I. A description of this meteor, from the author's own observations. II. Some historical accounts of the like meteors before; with extracts from such letters, and accounts of this, as the author has receiv'd. III. The principal phænomena of this meteor. IV. Conjectures for their solution. V. Reasons why our solutions are so imperfect. VI. Inferences and observations from the premises / By William Whiston, M. A. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    18/88 (page 12)
    [»] leaft ; and, as ®tis reafonable to fuppofe* fmuch further alfo. The Other Circumftance is this : That as the Whitenefs, or Brightnefs, which refembled that Appearance of the Dawn ©f the Day, which we may call Twy light, appear’d Northward from me ; fo did it likewife appear Northward from all others that faw it; and no body faw it South¬ ward from them. Both thefe Circumftances, I fay, increafe our Admiration on this Account : That where¬ as the Matter of this Phenomenon feemed to be a very thin Vapour ; it muft thence follow, that fuch Vapour muft be either of a vaft Length and Breadth on the Earth’s Surface ; or however, of a vaft Altitude above it ; that fo the Convexity of the Earth might be no Hin¬ drance to its being vifible, and this in the fame Situation, to Places fo remotely diftant* Which muft be ftill more remarkably true, if this Ap¬ pearance was alfo vifible ftill farther, and even to the very North Pole it felf. For can any one affirm, that this is not one of thofe, which the Learned Peirerim fays are obferv’d in Green¬ land, Iceland, and Norway ? Since thofe Places certainly are not any Limit, to hinder our feeing them Southward; no more than Roan is a Limit as to us, to hinder Mens feeing them ftill much farther Northward. Or may not we venture to fay, rather than fay nothing at all, that fornetimes fuch Kind of Vapours proceed from the Earth, as are capable of afcending much higher beyond the Top of the Atmo- fphere ; and of arriving at a mighty Elevation there ; and that the refra&edRays oftheSunmay then fo far penetrate, that fuch of the Vapours as meet with them may be enlighten’d by them, and