( 2209 | April, 
3. ASTRONOMY. 
(Including the Proceedings of the Royal Astronomical Society.) 
Tue news which has been received from America since our last 
Chronicle was in type suffices to show that—as we ventured to 
surmise—astronomers had not been mistaken in anticipating a fine 
display of the November shooting-stars in longitudes west of the 
British Isles. Considering how recently we have obtained any 
exact knowledge respecting the position of the meteor-rig in space 
and the motions of its members, the agreement between the predic- 
tions of astronomers and what actually took place is remarkably 
close. We mentioned half-past seven on the morning of Novem- 
ber 14th as the probable epoch of maximum display: it will be 
seen from what follows that the earth passed through the richest 
portion of the meteor-belt about two hours later. 
Professor Daniel Kirkwood, LL.D., assisted by Professor Wylie 
and several students, kept watch for meteors from 9h. 15m. p.m. to 
5h. 15m. a.m., November 13th and 14th, at the Indiana University, 
Bloomington, Indiana. Although the sky was obscured by so dense 
a haze that only stars of the first magnitude were visible, they 
obtained the following results :— 
November 13 from 9h. 15m. to 12h. Om. .. 1 meteor 
os 14; 50 10h.) Om-. 5... Bho lbm. 53 “7osmeteors 
a oe ei) Oleoms ae 4D om. oa Olas 
Ahetonrs = sohet5m. 7.) 9s) 
0 ” ” 
The maximum occurred at about 3h. 45m. Cincinnati time, 
corresponding to 9h. 53m, Greenwich time. At this time the rate 
was 12 per minute. 
Captain Stuart obtained a better view of the meteors at Nassau, 
Bahamas. ‘There is a slight misprint in the tabulated results, and 
hence some difficulty in determining whether the maximum display 
took place at 4h. 15m. or at 4h. 20m. This is not very important, 
however. At the maximum the rate was 21 per minute, though 
3-fifths of the sky only were clear. The corresponding Greenwich 
time is 9h. 25m. or 9h. 80m. Other observers who had a more 
extensive view of the heavens counted nearly half as many again 
as Captain Stuart. 
Lastly, Commander W. Chimmo, H.M.S. ‘Gannet,’ records the 
fall of an immense number of sparks near his ship, followed shortly 
by the explosion of a brilliant meteor near the East, emitting sparks 
like those of a rocket. He called the attention of the First- 
Lieutenant and Master, “who were on the bridge at the time, to 
the meteoric shower then in view, falling rapidly and perpendicularly ; 
every now and then a brilliant meteor bursting and lighting up the 
