EXPECTED METEORIC DISPLAY. 257 



son examined the heavens in the region indicated, and there, in the 

 early morning hours of December 2, 1872, detected two cloud-like ob- 

 jects. These he saw again on the morning of December 3d — by which 

 time their position on the star-vault had charged, so that it was clear 

 they were not nebulte or star-clouds, but veritable attendants on the 

 sun, though whether comets or meteor-flights was not clearly made 

 out. It was, however, clearly shown that neither of these objects 

 could possibly have been the meteor-flight crossed by the earth on 

 the night of November 27, 1872. It was equally certain that neither 

 the meteor-flight nor these two cometic objects could have been Biela's 

 comet itself — though all three were traveling in such courses that they 

 might be called attendants of that body. 



There for the time the history of Biela's comet has closed. No- 

 thing more has been seen of it, either as a comet or as a meteor-flight, 

 though scattered meteors traveling in its train were seen toward the 

 end of November, 1877, and more would probably have been seen at 

 the same part of last year if the skies then had not been overclouded 

 in nearly all European countries. 



The next passage of the earth athwart the track of the comet is the 

 first, since that of November 27, 1872, during which a meteor shower 

 could be expected to occur. The comet crossed the earth's track, or 

 passed very near to it, early in April last ; and though the interval is 

 considerably longer between then and the end of November than 

 elapsed between the comet's passage in 1872 and the display of that 

 year, yet it is most probable that many meteoric attendants of the 

 comet will be seen on some nights (or perhaps on several nights) be- 

 tween November 25th and December 1st, and quite possible that a very 

 fine shower may be seen. The meteors will be well worth looking for 

 in any case, since, if they are carefully observed and counted hour by 

 hour, astronomers will probably obtain some further insight into the 

 nature of the processes which lead to the dissipation of a comet and 

 cause its path to be occupied over a range of many millions of miles by 

 scattered meteoric attendants. To others than astronomers, the me- 

 teors will be full of interest ; and it is not at all unlikely that they 

 will appear in such numbers as to produce an exceedingly beautiful 

 display. — Belgrama. 



erfues telegraphed to Pogson, "on November 27, 1872." But this is quite impossible. 

 Any perturbation active enough to delay the comet's perihelion passage ten or twelve 

 weeks would have entirely changed the character of the comet's orbit. But the very cir- 

 cumstance that the earth crossed the train of cometic attendants on November 27, 1872, 

 showed that they were in the track of the comet, whose path could not, therefore, have 

 been greatly altered. The case may be simply put thus : Either the comet's motions had 

 been or Aat/ no< been very greatly disturbed between 1852 and 1872: now, if they had 

 been, the comet's path would no longer have passed near the earth's, and the comet could 

 not have encountered the earth either on November 27, 1872, or at any other time ; and 

 if they had not been, the comet must have crossed the earth's track early in September, 

 1872, and therefore, in this case also, must have been far away from the earth on Novem- 

 ber 27, 1872. 



VOL. XVI.— 17 



