on the niglits of the 9th, 10th, and 1 Ith of August. 253 



M. Quetelet's objects by calling attention to his observations 

 in your Journal, and by requesting that if any similar ones 

 have been made in Great Britain, they may be communicated 

 to you. Very respectfully yours, 



London, Aug. 30, 1838. A. D. Bache, 



President of the Gir. Coll. 

 Philadelphia. 



Extract of a Letter from M. Quetelet, Director of the Obser- 

 vatory of Brussels, to Prof, A. D. Bache, of Philadelphia. 



" I observed the number of shooting stars visible here (at 

 Brussels) on the nights of the 9th, 10th, and 11th of August. 

 On the first of these nights the sky was almost entirely co- 

 vered with clouds, and I saw but two shooting stars. 



" On the night of the 1 1th, until nearly midnight, about one 

 third of the sky towards the zenith was generally clear. 

 Subsequently it was only clear at intervals, and towards two 

 o'clock it rained. I was assisted in my observations by t\^ 

 other persons ; and notwithstanding the unfavourable circum- 

 stances of the night we saw many shooting stars, besides se- 

 veral very brilliant meteors, with nearly all of them a luminous 

 train. The uniform direction of their motion was further re- 

 markable. Below is the result of our observations on the 

 night of the 10th, giving the directions of the paths of the 

 shooting stars and the hours between which the numbers 

 given were seen. 

 49 directed from between the north and east towards the 

 opposite quarter of the sky. 



1 between the south and west towards the opposite quar- 

 ter of the sky. 



4 between the south and east towards the opposite quar- 



ter of the sky. 

 1 1 between the north and west towards the opposite quar- 

 ter of the sky. 



5 from east to west. 

 1 from west to east. 



4 from north to south. 

 1 from south to north. 



76 



1 1 not well determined. 



87 total number seen. 

 Of these were seen : 



16 between 9 — 10 o'clock. The observations about 9 

 o'clock were interrupted for aboutl5 minutes by clouds. 



