190 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



some distinguishing titles or symbols to conveniently particularize either 

 of them which it may be necessary to refer to. The method now- 

 adopted, of naming the chief periodical showers by the constellations 

 in which their radiant points are situated, is very appropriate ; and 

 such displays as the Orionids, Leonids, and Geminids, have become so 

 well known by their titles that it would be unwise and inconsistent to 

 attempt reform. But with regard to the minor systems, which are 

 becoming very numerous, and require an equally ready mode of ex- 

 pression, there is a great difficulty in avoiding complications. 



There are certainly five nearly simultaneous showers of Perseids 

 early in August ; and in every month of the year, except May and 

 June, meteors continue to fall from that constellation. If the present 

 mode is adopted of styling them Perseids I, Perseids II, and so on pro- 

 gressively, a good deal of confusion must eventually arise as new sys- 

 tems are discovered ; and this classification by Roman numbers, how- 

 ever appropriate it may be in some of its other applications, will have 

 to give way to a more distinguishing means of reference. The name 

 at present only gives indication of the constellation from which the 

 meteors emanate, without regard to the date or approximate place of 

 the radiant, and it seems to me that the difficulty may be obviated by 

 including the nearest fixed star and the epoch with that name. To 

 render the proposal clear, let us take the different streams proceeding 

 from the under-mentioned points in Perseus in August: 44 + 56, 

 32 + 53, 61 + 36, 61 + 48, 46 + 47, which may be thus termed ; 



7) Perseids (August 10th). 

 X Perseids (August lst-3d). 

 Perseids (August). 

 (X Perseids (August). 

 a Perseids (August). 



This is apparently a preferable method to that of Perseids I, II, III, 

 IV, and V, which must occasion endless trouble in references to find 

 what special stream is meant. Moreover, the numbers seem only in 

 fair application when affixed progressively to the successive showers 

 of the year, for it would be hardly consistent to call a radiant visible 

 in Perseus early in January by the designation of, say, "Perseids 

 XXXVIII." Yet this is what we are drifting to, unless a fresh sys- 

 tem is introduced to accommodate the rapidly increasing number of 

 meteor-streams. Popular Science Beview. 



