THE AUGUST METEORS. 



189 



from the catalogues of foreign observers. This shower, however, 

 escaped the detection of Heis and others, who had been engaged in 

 similar investigations, though it appears to be of more importance than 

 several radiants in its vicinity which have been independently deter- 

 mined by several observers. At the end of July, 1878, the writer noted 

 a few brilliant, slow meteors, from a point at 96 + 72, and this may 

 have been an early evidence of the radiant which is placed in a region 

 bare of large trees between Telescopium and Polaris. It is just north 

 of the triangle of faint stars {I. p. q. Ganielopardi of Bode), east of a 

 line drawn from (i Aurigoe to Polaris, and will, no doubt, be frequently 

 reobserved in future years, though the shower of Perseids usually mo- 

 nopolizes attention at the epoch of its annual returns. 



There is a shower near ?/ Persei (No. 2), well defined, on August 

 6th-12th, August 21st-23d, and September 6th-15th. At the latter 



FiQ. 5. Shower op Perseids (61 + 36), max. September 6th, 7th. 



epoch it furnishes some fine meteors and constitutes a prominent dis- 

 play. The diagram (Fig. 5) gives the positions of eighty-six paths 

 conforming to this radiant, observed at Bristol, and at several foreign 

 stations in September. 



The ordinary designation of Perseids for the special meteor-shower of 

 August 10th is always understood in its individual application, though 

 it must not be supposed that this is the only shower of Perseids visible 

 in that month. The fact is, there are many separate showers directed 

 from that constellation early and late in August, so that we require 



