46 Mr. G. J. Stoneij [Feb. 14, 



revolution, such an effect would in the end become very sensible. 

 And such an effect there is. The periodic times differ a little in these 

 different orbits. At the end of the first revolution those meteors 

 which have the longest periodic times are the last to get back to the 

 starting point, and have therefore already fallen a little into the rear 

 of the group, while those with the shortest periodic time have gone a 

 little ahead. At the end of the second revolution the se23aration is 

 doubled, and in each successive revolution the column is still more 

 lengthened out. After a sufficient number of revolutions it will be 

 spread out over the whole length of the orbit, and form a comjilete 

 oval ring. This has not yet happened to the November meteors, and 

 we are thus assured that it cannot be any enormous period, speaking 

 cosmically, since the time when they first started on their present 

 path. On the other hand the August meteors, which have returned 

 punctually every year since they were first observed, are probably a 

 complete ring, and are at all events of far greater antiquity than the 

 November meteors. But they are also, as might be expected, more 

 scattered, so that the si3rinkling of meteors they discharge upon the 

 earth as it passes through them has nothing like the splendour of the 

 great November shower. Signer Schiapparelli also pointed out that 

 there is a comet moving in the track of the August meteors, and 

 another in the track of the November meteors. We shall presently 

 see the significance of this observation. 



M. LE VEKRIER. 



The next great step was made by M. Le Verrier, the late Director 

 of the Paris Observatory. Acting on the suggestion made by Sig. 

 Schiapparelli, M. Le Verrier pointed out that the orbit of the meteors 

 intersects the orbit of Uranus, as represented in the diagram. From 

 its inclined position it does not intersect the path of any of the inter- 

 mediate planets Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. M. Le Verrier also 

 calculated back the epochs at which the planet and the meteors were 

 at the point of intersection, and foimd that early in the year a.d. 126 

 they were both at that spot, but that this has not happened since. 

 Taking this in conjunction with what Sig. Schiapparelli pointed out, 

 we seem to have a clue to a truly wonderful past history. All would 

 be explained if we may suppose that before the year 126, the meteors 

 had been moving beyond the solar system ; and that in that year they 

 chanced to cross the path of the planet Uranus, travelling along some 

 sucli path as that represented in the diagram. Had it not been for 

 the planet they would have kept on the course marked out with a 

 dotted line, and after having passed the sun, would have withdrawn 

 on the other side into the depths of space, to the same measureless 

 distance from which they had originally come. But their stumbling 

 on the planet changed their whole destiny. Even so great a planet 

 would not sensibly affect them until they got within a distance, which 

 would look very short indeed upon our diagram. But they seem to 



