’ 
-Meteoric Shower of November, 1837. 389 
vivid than ordinary—and, (4.) a maximum, or period of greatest fre- 
quency, at 4 o’clock in the morning.* 
With regard to the period of greatest frequency, it appears by the 
observations of Mr. Fitch, (p. 387,) that on a number of mornings 
previous to the 13th, four o’clock seemed likewise to be the time of 
the maximum. <A very unusual proportion of the meteors seen on 
the present occasion were accompanied by vivid trains; but as the 
light of the moon would have prevented many others not accompa- 
nied by such trains from being seen, we cannot, in the present in- 
stance, employ this characteristic to prove the analogy of this exhi- 
bition with the meteoric showers of previous years, although we 
have much reason to believe that this characteristic would have been 
very obvious, had it not been for the presence of the moon. But 
we allege the following arguments as decisive of the occurrence of 
the meteoric shower, on the morning of the 13th November. 
1. The number of meteors actually seen on that night, in the 
two eastern quarters of the heavens, was in fact greater than on the 
corresponding hours of any other night before or since, notwithstand- 
ing the unusual brightness of the moon. 
2. Still, at the lowest estimate made by any of the observers, 
two thirds of the whole number must have been lost in the moon- 
light, and therefore, we may safely estimate the entire number that 
would have been visible had the moon been away, at three times 
two hundred and twenty six, that is, at six hundred and seventy 
eight,—a number far greater than ordinary. The greatest number 
of shooting stars seen by any observer during the present sea- 
son, were counted by Mr. Fitch on the 28th of November, from 
4h. 10m. to 5h. 15m., in which time he saw 36, being at the rate 
of 33 per hour. Yet on the morning of the 13th, T counted in 
the same quarter of the heavens, between the hours of half past four 
and half past five, 32 meteors, which multiplied as before by 3, 
gives for the number that would have been seen in the absence of 
the moon 96,—a number almost three times as great as the greatest 
number observed at any corresponding hour of other nights. We 
do not deem it fair to make the comparison with other seasons of the 
year, especially when the number with which the comparison is 
ade was unusually large,—such, for example, as the number seen 
on the 9th or 10th of August, since there is reason to believe that 
* See the Report for 1836, in the 31st volume of this Journal, p. 386. 
Vor. XXXIII—No. 2. 50 
