Scientific Intelligence. Meteorology. 189 



nomena which preceded these astonishing migrations, and which 

 the people interpreted into favourable prognostics sent of God 

 to encourage them in the execution of the enterprize, the author 

 says (I translate from the German), " Previous to the Council 

 of Claremont the stars of heaven had announced the movement 

 of Christendom, for they were beheld by numbers in France, 

 on the 25th of April, to fall as thick as hail." This passage is 

 nearly a copy from the Latin Chronicle of Baldric, p. 88. As 

 I have not met it in the examples which you cite, I take the 

 liberty of supplying you with it, for the fact is the more valu- 

 able, as being at so remote a period. 



3. Shooting Stars on the Night of the llth-l%th November 

 1833, Letter from M. Gaimard to M. de Freycinet. I have 

 received from M. Mequet the following communication " On 

 the night between the llth and 12th November 1833, M. 

 Miiller, Director of the Danish Commercial Establishment of 

 Frederikshaab, and M. Kauffelat, Assistant at Gothaab, a dis- 

 trict farther north on the same coast, witnessed a shower of 

 fire in a western direction, which lasted for a quarter of an 

 hour. The Esquimaux, who were terrified at the spectacle, 

 ran with the greatest precipitation to rouse the gentlemen 

 named above." This observation will necessarily be highly in- 

 teresting to M. Arago. In the Annuaire du Bureau des Lon- 

 gitudes for the present year, he mentions a shower of shooting 

 stars which occurred in America in the night of the 12th-13th 

 of November, and he requests that all mariners will attentively 

 watch the celestial phenomena between the 10th and 15th of 

 November. 



4. Temperature of Space. At Fort Reliance, north latitude 

 62 46J', west longitude 100 0' 39", Captain Back observed the 

 spirit-of-wine thermometer to sink so low as 70 Fahr. If this 

 observation is correct, M. Arago concludes that the temperature 

 of space must be under 70 6'. Foisson, however, does not ad- 

 mit this conclusion, for, according to him, the temperature of the 

 upper stratum of air is considerably lower than that of space. 



5. The Ancient Temperature on Mount Taurus. M. Libri 

 has lately given to the Academic des Sciences an account of the 

 last voyage of M. Texier, who, after having traversed the whole 

 of Asia Minor, had- lately arrived at Trebisond. M. Texier 



