Shooting Stars of December 7, 1838. 367 
; both morning and-evening. It may be found, that a constant dif- 
| ference exists in the directions and velocities of the meteors which 
occur during, the August season, ahd of those of the displays which 
| oceur in November, December, and April. 
2 Enough appears to be already known to establish the proposi- 
tion, that shooting stars are small bodies of various sizes, materi- 
: als and densities, revolving around the sun, and luminous in con- 
| sequence of the heat excited by their casual passage through our 
atmosphere.* They have not inappropriately been termed. by 
M. Coquerel, microscopic planets. So far as we know, they-have 
the same astronomical relations as the larger luminous meteors call- 
ed fire-balis, bolides, meteorites, &c. They are encountered by the 
earth’s atmosphere probably every hour in the year, but in much 
greater numbers at certain parts of the earth’s orbit, than at others. 
.The distribution of these bodies throughout the solar system can 
not yet be determined.- -The majority of them probably move in 
groups, and may be supposed to. constitute one or more broad 
zones or rings, in some parts of which meteors are exceedingly 
numerous. When, at the return of certain periods,t the earth 
traverses these dense parts, great meteoric showers occur, like those 
of the years 686, 29, 25,-B. C., and those of A. D, 532, 558, 750, 
765, 901, 935; 1095, 1096, 1122, 1799, 1803, 1832, "1933. It 
mnay be supposed that in other years, the earth passes through a 
part where the meteors are less numerous, and then only a sprink- 
ling of meteors is seen. Whether there are more zones than one, 
and if so, how they are situated, are problems which will proba- 
bly long remain unsolved. Whether these meteors are the frag- 
‘ments of the supposed exploded planet, of which the four asteroids 
may have formed a Aske or whether they were originally indepen- 
Jent bodies, later day. These 
i 
* This opinion is far from being new. It is found in setekaticd in “Platareh’ s 
Life of Lysander, and although it has never been very generally received, yet it 
~ has always had some supporters. It was ably illustrated and defended by the cel- 
ebrated Chladni; and it is maintained by many at the present day. 
t The cycle of the November shower seems to be, es much doubt, 33 or 7 34 
“years: that of the April shower is perhaps about oy ye 
+ This hypothesis, advanced by Prof. Wildt, is tex with*a partial approval 
by the distinguished Olbers; in a valuable paper on shooting stars in Schumacher’s 
fir 1837. It is remarkable, that a very similar idea is found in De Mez- 
ay’ s Hist. - a (4to, Amst. 1755, tom. ii, p. 156,) in an account of the mete- 
oric shower f 1096; his words are, “ On vit durant plusieara nuits pleuvoir des 
ypar ssciitas: — si dru et menu, qu’on eit dit que c’ étoient des bluettes 
du débris des orbes celestes 
