i84 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



horizon soon after dark, and a person who persistently watches it dur- 

 ing the night will find, with increasing elevation of the radiant, a 

 corresponding increase in the hourly number of meteors. In 1877, at 

 Bristol, the eastern sky was persistently watched between 9h. 30m. 

 and 14h. 30m., when 354 meteors were seen ; and, though the horary 



Pig. 3. Radiant Pointb east of the Peeseids, August 6th-13th. 



B 



Major Showers. Minor Showers. 



Perseids. 



rate before llh. was only 47, it rose to about 80 during the last half 

 of the watch. Indeed, the number of meteors observed at the end of 

 the watch was more than double the number recorded at the beginning 

 of it. Thus it is apparent that the most favorable time for such obser- 

 vations is in the morning hours, and though it is generally incon- 

 venient for amateurs to extend their vigils thus far, the importance 

 of doing so can not be too strongly insisted on. 



