542 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



from which he would gladly escape when we see these things, are 

 we not reminded of the phylloxera which can taint the goblet in the 

 hand of a king, of the secret foe which silently saps the health of cit- 

 ies, and that confusion of life and death, which, flying upon the wings 

 of the wind, affronts the stablest security and makes a jest of human 

 conservatism ? 



THE METEOES OF NOYEMBER 13th-15th. 



By Professor DANIEL KIEKWOOD. 



WHEN" the coincidence between the orbits of the November me- 

 teors and the comet of 1866 was first clearly established a few 

 years since, it was supposed by astronomers that the so-called Leonids 

 formed a single clustei', diffused through an arc of such length as to 

 require three or four years to make its perihelion passage. The mete- 

 oric period was shown by Professor Newton, of Yale College, and J, 

 C, Adams, of Cambridge University, to be thirty-three and one fourth 

 years. Consequently, no further displays were expected from this 

 stream till about the close of the century. But in " Nature " for June 

 3, 1875, numerous facts were given, all indicating the existence of a 

 second group, less dense in its structure, and preceding the principal 

 swarm by twelve or thirteen years. Again, the large number of me- 

 teors seen in 1879, taken in connection with the fact that, according to 

 Humboldt, meteors were seen in unusual abundance just thirty-three 

 years before, viz., in 1846, suggested the probable existence of a third 

 and perhaps still smaller cluster, passing its perihelion about 1879-'80. 

 It was felt to be important, therefore, that in case any considerable 

 number of meteors should be visible this year at the November epoch, 

 the shower should be observed and the facts recorded. Accordingly, I 

 requested Professor D. E . Hunter, Principal of the Washington (Indiana) 

 High School, to keep watch on the mornings of November 13th, 14th, 

 and loth. Professor Hunter has made a comprehensive report, which 

 I have somewhat abridged in the following statement. The morning 

 of the 13th was cloudy, and on the 15th the moon shone brightly till 

 daybreak. The watch was consequently restricted to the morning of 

 the 14th. Four observers were occupied from 3'' 45" to 5^ 45" pre- 

 cisely two hours. The position was on a hill south of Washington, 

 where the view was unobstructed, except on the south. One hundred 

 and sixteen meteors were counted, ninety-one of which were conform- 

 able to the radiant in Leo. During the first hour the atmosphere was 

 hazy and the moon interfered with the observations. The second hour 

 was clear and moonless. The following table includes only Leonids, 

 giving the number counted in every five minutes : 



