Shooting Stars of August 9 and 10, 1840. 333 
of the distance from «¢ to « Cassiopeize, or about 30° R. A., 63° 
64° N. Dec. A few meteors very near this point seemed to indi- 
eate it pretty fairly. Of the small number of nonconforming 
meteors that I saw, nearly all had one identical path, intersecting 
the milky way at right angles about midway between Cassiopeia 
and Deneb. Of the whole number visible I am quite certain 
that I could not see more than one fifth part. I am confirmed in 
my opinion by the fact that another person in directing attention 
to the same SUA detected in two or three minutes, several 
more than I saw 
“The exaneee of Monday, (10th, ) with a still brighter moon, 
showed only a few meteors; but after the moon had set, a little 
after 3 A. M. (11th,) I saw thirty fice in as many minutes, a much 
larger proportion being brilliant than on the morning previous. 
The dawn again interfered. The radiant point had shifted from 
last night’s position, but I could not determine it exactly. On 
both these mornings the Zodiacal Light was bright, and extend- 
ed, as I thought, to a point between the Hyades and Pleiades. 
“'Thus you will see that on the morning of the 10th August, 
1840, meteors appeared at the rate of from 330 to 400 per hour, 
and on the morning of the 11th, at the rate of at least 300 per 
hour. This gives us a fair shower, and I trust it has been gener- 
ally observed. I find on comparing this year’s observations with 
those I made two years ago, that we are at least approximating 
to the place of the radiant.” 
Philadelphia, Pa. ‘The August period of the return of the 
shower of meteors came round last evening, the 9th, this year 
being leap year. Notwithstanding the brightness of the moon, 
nearly full, the display began early in the evening, and continued 
till late in the morning. Many of the meteors were as bright as 
Venus. They all moved, with few exceptions, in directions 
which, being extended backward, would pass through the head 
of Perseus, which continued for several hours to be the radiant 
point. Some brilliant meteors were also seen on the evening of 
the 8th inst. The circumstance of these meteors radiating from 
the head of Perseus, was noticed on the 9th, 10th and 11th of 
August, last year, at several observatories in Europe, where their 
directions were measured with much care and precision, particu- 
larly at Bessel’s Observatory in —— "—Philad. Gazette, 
August 10, 1840. 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 2.—July-September, 1840. 43 
