

On the Meteors of 13th November, 1833. 323 



The accounts of the meteoric shower, which dated its commence- 

 ment at 1 1 P. M. and which ascribed to it a progressive increase 

 till an hour or two before day light, were numerous and high- 

 ly credible ; but, without referring to them more particularly we may 

 infer safely, that the meteoric shower commenced about 9 o'clock P. M. 

 on the evening of Nov. I2tk; that it became remarkable at \ 1 ; came 

 to its maximum at 4 or half past 4 A. M., and was concealed from 

 view by the day light at 7. The time of the maximum was placed very 

 uniformly at 4 A. M. ; but the writer has observed in all persons who 

 describe the morning phenomena a tendency to place events earlier 

 than the true time of occurrence. For rhis reason it may be sus- 

 pected that the maximum took place about half past 4 A. M. 



This meteoric shower, to say the least, was vast in its extension. 

 It has been traced already, in one direction, from the North Ameri- 

 can Jakes to the middle of the gulf of Mexico ; and, in the other, from 

 long. 61° on the Atlantic to Central Mexico — long. 100°. There 

 is nothing which makes it probable that these limits approach the ex- 

 treme boundaries of the shower excepting on the south and, possibly, 

 on the east. Through this whole region, the extreme south except- 

 ed, the general appearances were every where alike. The incessant 

 and active motions which prevailed in the sky it cannot now be 

 doubted were every where directed, whether the fact was observed 

 or not, along the arcs of great circles having a common intersection. 

 At a certain distance from the point of intersection, the paths were 

 long and the angular motions rapid ; nearer to that point the paths 

 were shorter and the motions less rapid, till, in the immediate vicinity 

 of that point, the paths were so short and the motions so gentle as 

 only to excite the conception of a little elliptical cloud, or nebulous star, 

 softly swelling out from the heavens, and subsiding. The point it- 

 self, as will be imagined from the preceding description, was a cen- 

 tre of divergence for apparent motions; from which centre the luminous 

 lines left upon the sky, by meteors shooting in its vicinity, appeared to 

 radiate; and in consequence it has been termed, not inaptly, the ra- 

 diant: at or near the very point, it was not uncommon that spectators 

 noticed, now and then, a bright spot or a star perfectly stationary for 

 the brief period of its continuance. Mr. J. N. Palmer, who viewed 

 this radiant with great attention at different times from two o'clock 

 till morning, is positive that he distinguished, at an early hour, a cir- 

 cular or elliptical space surrounding it of perhaps, at first, three times 

 the moon's diameter and towards morning, three times larger still; 

 Vol. XXVI.— No. 2. 42 



