MISCELLANY. 



123 



most evident precepts of sanitary prudence. 

 This journal will, no doubt, do a good work 

 in helping to diffuse abroad something like 

 rational views as to the conditions of health. 

 This periodical has nothing directly to do 

 with medicine, nor will it attempt to make 

 doctors of its readers. Hygiene is hand- 

 somely printed and carefully edited. 



MISCELLANY. 



Meteor-Showers on the Night of Novem- 

 ber 27, 1872c In all quarters of the heav- 

 ens, says an astronomical periodical, the 

 Leipziger Slernwarle, the meteors were very 

 numerous, especially in the Southwest and 

 the Northeast. An observer looking tow- 

 ard the South counted within 54 minutes, 

 soon after seven p. m., 700 meteors ; another 

 observer 807 meteors in 40 minutes. Be- 

 tween eight and nine o'clock 899 meteors 

 were counted in 42 minutes, 304 in 19 min- 

 utes between nine and ten o'clock, 291 in 

 30 minutes between ten and eleven o'clock. 

 Now, as the observer could view about one- 

 fourth of the heavens, and as over 20 mete- 

 ors per minute were observed at about 

 eight o'clock, we must set down the num- 

 ber falling between seven and eight, and 

 between eight and nine, at 5,000 per hour. 

 The phenomenon began to fail at ten o'clock, 

 and, between that hour and eleven, only 

 2,000 meteors fell. About one-sixth of 

 these meteors were brighter than stars of 

 the first magnitude, and many of them left 

 a train which was luminous for several sec- 

 onds. The majority of them were, however, 

 between the second and fourth magnitudes. 

 In color most of them were yellow, though 

 some were green, some blue, some red ; 

 those of feebler lustre were white. Prof. 

 Galle, of Breslau, and Prof. Klinkerfues, of 

 Gottingen, agree in attributing this meteor- 

 shower to the meeting of the earth with 

 Biela's comet. "Without doubt," writes 

 the former, " these meteors consist of scat- 

 tered particles of Biela's comet, meeting 

 the earth, as that comet in its septennial 

 period passed that point in its career in the 

 beginning of September, and was at its peri- 

 helion at the beginning of October. Schia- 

 parclli's discovery of the connection be- 

 tween comets and meteoric showers thus 

 obtains fresh confirmation." 



Professor Agassiz's School of Natural Ills- 

 tory. This establishment, which was at 

 first designed for Nantucket, but is now in- 

 tended for Penikese Island, had the follow- 

 ing programme of subjects and instruc- 

 tions : 



" 1. Zoology in general, and embryol- 

 ogy of the vertebrates, by L. Agassiz, Di- 

 rector of Museum. 2. The extinct animals 

 of past ages compared with those now liv- 

 ing, and the methods of identifying them, 

 by N. S. Shaler, Professor of Paleontology 

 at the Lawrence Scientific School. 3. Com- 

 parative anatomy and physiology of the 

 vertebrates, by Dr. B. G. Wilder, Professor 

 of Anatomy and Physiology at Cornell Uni- 

 versity, Ithaca, N. Y. 4. The animals and 

 plants living in deep waters, and the pecul- 

 iar conditions of their existence, by L. P. 

 de Pourtales, of the United States Coast 

 Survey. 6. Embryology of the radiates, by 

 A. Agassiz, of the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology. 6. Natural history of embryology 

 of the mollusks, by Prof. E. S. Morse, of 

 Salem. 7. How to make biological collec- 

 tions illustrative of the history of insects 

 injurious to vegetation, by Dr. H. A. Ha- 

 gen, Professor of Entomology at Harvard 

 University. 8. Natural history and embry- 

 ology of the articulates, by Dr. A. S. Pack- 

 ard, Jr., Curator of Articulates at Peabody 

 Academy of Science, Salem, and Lecturer 

 on Entomology at Bowdoin College. 9. 

 Natural history of the fishes and reptiles, 

 by F. W. Putnam, Director of Museum of 

 Peabody Academy of Science, Salem, and 

 Permanent Secretary of the American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science 

 10. Natural history of birds and mammals. 

 by J. A. Allen, of the Museum of Compara 

 tive Zoology. 11. On breeding, and nests 

 and eggs of birds, by Dr. Thomas W. Brew- 

 er, chairman of Committee on Birds, Nests. 

 and Eggs, of the Boston Society of Natural 

 History. 12. Practical exercises in the use 

 of the microscope, by Mr. Bicknell. 13. 

 Instruction in drawing and painting of ani- 

 mals, by Paulus Roetter, Artist at Museum 

 of Comparative Zoology. 14. On the pres- 

 ervation of our sea-fisheries, by Prof. Spen- 

 cer F. Baird, United States Commissioner 

 of Fisheries, and Assistant Secretary of 

 Smithsonian Institute. 15. On fish-breed- 

 ing, by Theo. Lyman, of the Museum of 



