Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles, 309 



wards ; probably reaching the regions of Eridanus, for intervening 

 buildings hid its termination westwards from my view. While 

 gazing at it, I was astonished to see a portion of the eastern limb, at 

 a height of about 45° or 50°, suddenly change its character and aspect, 

 and, for an extent of perhaps five degrees, exhibit the spectacle of a 

 crowd of minute meteors rushing and commingling with one an- 

 other, — each individual, so far as the eye could detect from the ra- 

 pidity and confusion of their motions, precisely resembling an ordinary 

 shooting star, having an apparent nucleus and a luminous train fol- 

 lowing it. This sight lasted, it may be, nearly a minute ; and I 

 have since regretted that I did not apply a 30-inch refractor, which 

 was standing in the room at the time, to have marked the appearance 

 through a magnifying medium ; but I had scarcely time. Such 

 is a brief statement of the fact. I shall be glad if it should afford 

 any interest to those who may have made meteorological phsenomena 

 the more peculiar object of their attention. 

 I remain. Gentlemen, 



Your very obedient Servant, 



W. Pringle, 

 Edinburgh, Feb. 14, 1853. 



P.S. The portion of the luminous bow occupied by the apparition 

 of the minute cometary bodies was strictly confined in breadth to 

 that of the arch. There was an obvious motion of the luminous 

 matter of the arch itself in a direction from east to west, resembling 

 a tremulous stream. The cometary projections followed the same 

 course, while they lasted — the space they occupied being filled up, 

 on their disappearance, with the usual luminous appearance. — W. P. 



ON THE PERIODS OF REVOLUTION OF THE SATELLITES OF 

 JUPITER AND SATURN. BY A. QUETELET. 



By comparing together the periods of revolution and the distances 

 of the satellites of Jupiter and Saturn, several very simple relations 

 have been discovered, which are described in the different treatises 

 on astronomy. There are however two that have not hitherto been 

 noticed until pointed out by M. le Baron Behr. The first relates to 

 the eight satellites of Saturn which may be supposed to form two 

 groups, one consisting of the four inner, the other of the four ex- 

 terior satellites. With regard to the first group, there is the fol- 

 lowing passage in the fourth volume of Humboldt's ' Cosmos*: — 



" Between the first four satellites a remarkable relation of com- 

 mensurabihty in the periods of revolution presents itself. The 

 period of the third satellite, Tethys, is double that of the first, 

 Mimus; that of the fourth, Dione, double that of the second, 

 Enceladus. The closeness of this relation extends to ^^ of the 



