86 Mr Olmsted 07i the Meteoric Showers 



III. Observations at Yale College. 



" The preceding day had been rainy, and early the same 

 night the sky was overcast ; but before midnight, the firmament 

 became cloudless, and the stars shone with uncommon brilliancy. 



" My expectation of a repetition of the meteoric shower at 

 this place was so slight, that I had made httle preparation for 

 observing the heavens, although I looked out frequently after 

 midnight. About Iralf past three o'clock, finding that the 

 meteors began to appear in unusual numbers, I directed my at- 

 tention towards the eastern part of the heavens, whence they 

 appeared mostly to proceed, and closely watched the stars from 

 the Great Bear on the north, to Canis Major on the south, em- 

 bracing in my field of view about one third of the firmament. 



" It was soon discovered that nearly all the meteors shot in 

 directions, which, on being traced back, met in one and' the 

 same point near the eye of Leo. For a quarter of an hour from 

 half-past three o'clock, I counted twenty-two meteors, of which 

 all but three emanated from the above radiant point. Ten left 

 luminous trains, twelve were without trains ; and the three that 

 did not conform to the general direction, moved perceptibly 

 slower than the others. The gi'eatest part shot off to the right 

 and left of the radiant, the majority tending south towards the 

 Heart of Hydra. The next fifteen minutes afforded but seven 

 meteors, and the number gradually declined until daylight. 



" The exact position of the radiant was near a small star 

 forming the apex of a triangle with the two bright stars in the 

 face of Leo, having a right ascension of 145°, and declination of 

 25 degrees.* Its place, therefore, was very nearly the same as 

 in' 1834, difi^ering only half a degree in right ascension ; and 

 all the phenomena very much resembled those observed that 

 year, except that they were on a scale somewhat inferior. 



IV. Observations at New Yorlc. From the New York American 

 of' Nov. I5th. 

 " The annual recurrence of this phenomenon being a subject 

 of much interest, the undersigned kept a careful watch on the 



" This position of the "radiant," as observed here in 1833, was in R. A. 

 150°, Dec. 20° ; in 1834, R. A. 144° 30', Dec. 30° 15'. 



