46 rT ie ed “‘REPORT—1849. ~~ i : 























d 
1844 .... 12,13.. Birmingham .... Mr. Onion. 
.... 12,13,. Highfield House,, the Author. 
1845 .... 10 .... Greenwich ...... Mr. Lovelace and Mr. Breen, 
un. 
a30...< Bombay’ we. 'os Prof, Orlebar. 
1846 .... 11 .... Greenwich ...... Mr. Humphreys, Mr Love- 
lace, and Mr. Breen, jun. 
1847) >. QA, Se." Deyburn jee s* .": Mr. Wharton. 
12,13.. Highfield House.. the Author. 
£27132. Benares ©. fy). o 5% Correspondent to M. Arago. 
Although this period in former years exceeded all others, still within the 
last few years the August epoch has been more brilliant. 
2nd November epoch, 27-29. . 
As yet I have never been fortunate enough to see a meteor on these nights. 
a. December epoch, 6-12. 
1846 23) 19>... Bombaf 200s: .-.. Prof. Orlebar. 
1847 ....12 .... Highfield House.. the Author. 
(2.) Meteors crossing the sun as dark spots. ‘ 
In 1839, in Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 385, Prof. Erman stated that the 
cold days of the 11th to the 13th of May and the 5th to the 7th of February, 
were owing to the passage of falling stars between us and the sun. 
In 1845, the German astronomer Peters had taken observations on solar — 
spots, which he requested the Astronomer Royal Capocci to have continued. 
One of the assistants (M. de Gasparis) being thus occupied on the 11th of | 
May 1845, observed a black body cross the sun; he called Capocci’s attention — 
to the fact, and he, together with Dr. Démartini and an assistant astronomer 
(Del Re), witnessed great numbers cross his disc. Being on a visit with my 
worthy friend Mr. Lawson at Bath (this year), we determined to watch — 
carefully for these black globules, and accordingly set the 11-foot equatoreal — 
to the focus of the sun; a 5-foot to that of Venus; a 3-foot to that of the — 
moon; and a beautiful defining glass of thirty inches, to 400 miles, thinking © 
by this arrangement to be enabled to detect these bodies, whatever distance 
they might be from us; unfortunately, from February 5th to 7th, the sun 
never shone at Bath; however, we received a communication from Mr. 
Weeks of Sandwich, saying his friend the Kev. Mr. Brown of Deal had seen 
two deliberately cross the sun’s dise .in a descending are. We looked out © 
again on the 11th, 12th and 13th of May, but without success. Conversing 
with my friend Mr. Hind, he informed me that Messier* remarked, that in — 
1777 one day he had seen 200 small dark bodies cross the solar dise; to say 
the least of the phenomenon, it is worthy of a few years’ attention before we - 
decide this interesting point, especially as the November meteors frequently 
fail to give us a rich display. é 
(3.) On a point of divergence of meteors. ¢ 
The meteors seen in 1839 diverged from a point situated between Taurus” 
and Pegasus; since thenthe point is stated to be near 6 Camelopardalis. — 
Both last year (1848) and this (1849), from a great number of observations, — 
the point of divergence was in or slightly above Cassiopeia on the 9th to the 
18th of August, yet, strange to say, until then this point was not observed: 
there was another situated in Cygnus, which had been plainly discernible since » 
the middle of July. From that time until the 9th of August, if the paths of 
* Messier gave a memoir on the subject, entitled, ‘‘ Observation singulier d’une prodigieuse 
quantité de petites globules qui ont passé au devant du disque du soleil.’ [Mem. Acad. Paris, 
1777, p. 464.) ; : : 
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