“On the evening of the 19th December 1849, whilst walking near the southern part of Edinburgh, about fifteen minutes past five. Greenwich time (as I afterwards estimated), I observed a meteor, fully brighter than Venus at her average brilliancy, moving from W. towards N., parallel to the horizon, elevated 15° above it, and followed by a distinct luminous train. This angle was subsequently taken by estimation by daylight, with the aid of a theodolite; and the compass-bearing of the meteor, when first seen, ascertained in the same way, must have been 47° W. of N. When it bore 29° E. of magnetic north, it was observed to have divided into two, the one part following the other at some distance; and I soon after lost sight of it in the obscurity of the smoke of the town. When it split, its altitude was estimated at 6°. It thus described an arc of no less than 76°, in doing which it occupied, as I roughly estimated, about 15 seconds, or possibly more.