It was an interesting problem to ascertain, if possible, the height above the earth at which these fire-balls exploded, or resolved themselves into a cloud of smoke. This would be an easy task, provided we could be certain that two or more distant observers could be sure that both saw the same meteor; for as each would refer the place of explosion, or the position of the cloud that resulted from it, to a different point of the sky, a parallax would thus be obtained, from which the height might be determined. The large meteor which is mentioned in my account of the shower, (see page 348,) as having exploded near the star Capella, was so peculiar in its appearance, and in the form and motions of the small cloud which resulted from its combustion, that it was noticed and distinguished by a number of observers in distant parts of the country. All described the meteor as exhibiting, substantially, the same peculiarities of appearance; all agreed very nearly in the time of its occurrence; and, on drawing lines, to represent the course and direction of the place where it exploded to the view of each of the observers respectively, these lines met in nearly one and the same point, and that was over the place where it was seen in the zenith. Little doubt, therefore, could remain, that all saw the same body; and on ascertaining, from a comparison of their observations, the amount of parallax, and thence deducing its height,--a task which was ably executed by Professor Twining,--the following results were obtained: that this meteor, and probably all the meteors, entered the atmosphere with a velocity not less, but perhaps greater, than _fourteen miles in a second_; that they became luminous many miles from the earth,--in this case, over _eighty miles_; and became extinct high above the surface,--in this case, nearly _thirty miles_.