To begin with, there have been observed in history certain times when shooting stars were unusually numerous. The night when King Ibrahim Ben Ahmed died, in October, 902, was noted by the Arabians as remarkable in this way; and it has frequently been observed since, that, though we can always see some of these meteors nightly, there are at intervals very special displays of them. The most notable modern one was on Nov. 13, 1833, and this was visible over much of the North American continent, forming a spectacle of terrifying grandeur. An eyewitness in South Carolina wrote:-- “I was suddenly awakened by the most distressing cries that ever fell on my ears. Shrieks of horror and cries for mercy I could hear from most of the negroes of the three plantations, amounting in all to about six hundred or eight hundred. While earnestly listening for the cause I heard a faint voice near the door, calling my name. I arose, and, taking my sword, stood at the door. At this moment I heard the same voice still beseeching me to rise, and saying, ‘O my God, the world is on fire!’ I then opened the door, and it is difficult to say which excited me the most--the awfulness of the scene, or the distressed cries of the negroes. Upwards of one hundred lay prostrate on the ground,--some speechless and some with the bitterest cries, but with their hands raised, imploring God to save the world and them. ‘The scene was truly awful; for never did rain fall much thicker than the meteors fell toward the earth; east, west, north, and south, it was the same.” The illustration on page 189 does not exaggerate the number of the fiery flashes at such a time, though the zigzag course which is observed in some is hardly so common as it here appears.