At the judged it was of a red colour, and somewhat star-like in appearance. large Meteors, 1870-71. Appearance; Train or Length of Path and Remarks. Observer and References &c. A very large globular nu-25°; downwards to left... The stars scarcely visible through T. Crumplen. cleus. Seen through baze, which dimmed its light. haze, but recognized sufficiently A globular nucleus, with->10°; directed from Ca- View of the end of its course in- W. H. Wood. out tail or streak. pella, radiant F1. Nucleus pear-shaped, with From radiant F1 short adhering white tail, projecting dull-red fragments forwards on its course; increasing and exploding at maximum brightness. tercepted when at an altitude Id. 5° while in sight; directed From radiant a Tauri. End of Robert Maclure. from Ursa Majoris. path hidden by houses. Left a very fine streak ...40° T. Wright. 6. Meteors of the largest class, as described in the foregoing list of such occurrences, were more than ordinarily frequent during the months of March and April last, appearing principally on the nights of the 17th-18th and 23rd-24th of March, and on those of the 11th and 12th of April last. On the first of these dates two fireballs were observed in France and Italy, the former of which was also seen in the south of England, at Chichester. A large meteor was seen in Kent and Essex, on the second date, a few minutes after sunset; and two detonating meteors were observed at Urbino, and were generally visible in Italy on the same night. The third detonating meteor of which accounts have reached the Committee, made its appearance in Piedment on the evening of the 12th of April last. Professor Serpieri and Mr. Denza, at the Observatories of Urbino and Moncalieri, near Turin, are collecting sufficient details of these large meteors to calculate their real course. Nucleus followed by a 15°; descending towards The meteor was also seen at Ley-Communicated train of red sparks. Ex ploded, projecting many luminous fragments. Left a few bright red sparks and a very persistent ruddy streak on its whole course. Nucleus very brilliant. At Boōtis it paused for an instant, and advanced with irregular motion towards its termination. Left a brilliant streak. Left a reddish streak for Burst with a detonation, which Id. Id. [The last apparent position is that Id. III. AEROLITES. The following dates, of aërolitic falls appear to have escaped notice in the Catalogue (Report for 1860) and in subsequent Reports : The analysis of the last of these meteorites by Mr. Tschermak (Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, for 1871, p. 412) shows approximately the following composition: Iron. Hydrocarbon. +0.85 Olivine. Enstatite. Magnetic Pyrites. +61.72 +30.01 +(traces) =101.07. The occurrence of carbonaceous matter in the meteorites of Hessle, Upsala (1st January, 1869), was recently also recognized by Nordenskjöld, who found in them a black flocculent substance, containing 71 per cent. of carbon. (The Academy,' August 15th, 1871.) IV. METEORIC SHOWERS. 1. Meteor-showers in January and February 1837.-From the tracks of meteors recorded in the last annual Catalogue of the British Association, and in the Bulletin of the Moncalieri Observatory' for November 1869, observed during the months of January and February of that year, Mr. Greg has established the existence of the following old, and of one new radiant-point, which made their appearance in those months : Jan. 9-19, and a. 6. By the stars. 30 to Feb. 6. Jan. 72 + 28, z, Orionis... 14 (Italian).. (AG, Dec. 20 to Feb. 6. Jan. 29 to Feb. 6 223 +54 In Quadrans... 7 (Italian)... K3 Jan. 2-3.......... 194 +15 e Virginis 8 (English).. S4 Feb. 11-16 (chiefly) ... 103 -256 Canis Majo-10 (English (T2 ris. and Italian). March 5-17 January.. 68 +20 a Tauri)? 232 +49 c Quadrantis. 190+1y Virginis. 105 -276 Canis Majoris. 105-45 Puppis, Argo. A succession of radiant-points near the apex of the earth's way following the appearance of the November shower, of which the general meteor-shower LH (Report for 1868, p. 403) from the head of Hydra, lasting until the 12th of December, presents a parallel instance, is remarkably described in the following MS. note, recorded by the late Sir J. Herschel during his residence at the Cape Cape of Good Hope, 1837, January 2nd, 1h 30m M. T. [i. e. from midnight]. A meteor second-magnitude star crossed the zenith, leav... ing a train. Course right from the apex in the east, whence they have all come since November 12th. N.B. This has been extremely remarkable and well-sustained; really very few exceptions. February 1-5.-The meteors now chiefly go from S.W. to N.E.” The tendency of radiant-points to group themselves in families so as to make newly observed centres difficult to distinguish from older ones appearing nearly on the same date, is well seen by the examples of the new radiantpoint in Orion, and of the extensions (apparently) of old radiant-points, pointed out by Mr. Greg. Some attempts to explain this singular peculiarity and the striking instances of groups of radiant-points in the months of January and February have recently been published by Professor Schiaparelli, a further account of whose speculations on their probable history will be found at the close of this Report. 2. The Meteor-shower of November 1868, which was seen in its greatest brilliancy in the United States of America, and which was also partially recorded at Glasgow, by Professor Grant, between 5 and 6 o'clock on the morning of the 14th of November, was observed at the same hours in the north of Scotland, and described in the Journal of the Scottish Meteorological Society' (for December 1868):-"Meteors and Falling-stars.-The starshower of the 13th and 14th of November was observed at many of the stations. In the north it was very fine. Mr. Clark, the observer at North Unst, writes:-'On the morning of the 14th there was a great falling of shooting-stars from all directions of the sky; it was something like a shower of stars.' And the Rev. Dr. Hamilton observes that at Bressay There was an extraordinary meteoric shower, which continued from 3h 30m A.M. of the 13th [? 14th] till the sun rose, and the number of stars or meteors falling was innumerable." " The following descriptions of its appearance in Switzerland are given by Dr. Rudolf Wolf in his 'Astronomical Contributions': "1868, November 13th: from 12h 5m to 12h 15m I saw four, from 12h 15m to 12h 30m nine, and from 12h 30m to 12h 40m two brilliant meteors radiating from the constellation Leo. The sky (up to the latter time quite clear) then clouded over from the east, and all further view of the meteors at Zürich was prevented. Mr. Rieder, at Klosters, reports:-'As an unusual phenomenon I have to state that at 4h 15m on the morning of the 14th of November, 1868, an extraordinary number of shooting-stars were visible in the western sky; from five until six o'clock a real rain of shooting-stars took place, diffusing such great brightness that one might easily have read by their light. Several of the meteors left streaks of bright light in the sky, which remained visible for two or three seconds.' At Engelberg 'from five until after six o'clock A.M. on the morning of the 14th of November, repeated flashes of lightning were perceived, and shortly before five o'clock a swiftly passing flash, like a ball of light, was observed, whilst the sky was completely overcast.'" An admirably compiled history of the November phenomenon in the year 1868, comprising the exact details of observations at all the places where it was well observed, and notices of its general description at places in all parts of Europe, the United States of America, and the Atlantic, where it was witnessed, is published in his Memoirs V. and VI., on 'Shooting-stars of November 1868 and August 1869,' by Sig. F. Denza. The same volume contains (in the sixth memoir) an equally full collection of observations and theoretical deductions of great value regarding the appearance of the August meteor-shower in the year 1869. Among the latter may be cited the suggestion of Professor Newton*, borne out by the observations of the shower made in America, and by those of Professor Serpieri at Urbino in that year, that the radiant-region of the Perseids is in reality a narrow, elongated space extending from near the cluster at x Persei to the star B (B. A. C. 1058) Camelopardi. The radiant-region of the Leonids in the previous year was similarly observed by Professor Newton to be better represented by a short line extending between the stars e, y Leonis, from about the star x, in the centre of the Sickle (B. A. C. 3423), to the latter star, than by a single point. The direction of elongation of the radiant-region is towards the sun's apparent place, a conclusion which is regarded by Prof. Newton as throwing light of some importance upon the theory of the November meteor-stream. * Bulletins of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Belgium, ser. 2. vol. xxvi. 1868, pp. 450, 451. + Letter from Prof. Serpieri to Prof. Schiaparelli, January 5th, 1870; communicated to the Royal Institute of Sciences of Lombardy. |