PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 11 



lately been, visible in strong telescopes, but is now (May 2nd) 

 somewhat farther from the sun than Jupiter. There seem 

 to have been an unusual number of fine meteors and fireballs 

 recorded in the past year, but I have not been fortunate 

 in seeing anything of any consequence. A very fine one on 

 May 10th, seen in the Midlands in broad daylight at 7.52 a.m., 

 another on June 1st at 9.40 p.m., others on and about August 

 10th, one on August 28th, which left a trail lasting three or 

 four minutes ; others on September 2nd, October 23rd, 

 November 2nd, November 9th, this was remarkable for its 

 wriggling motion ; November 16th, 20th, 25th, and one on 

 February 19th, 1911, lasting half a minute in its flight, and 

 calculated to have had a course of more than 500 miles. 

 All these were seen in England, and some of them are described 

 as bursting into fragments. I have myself observed meteors 

 in former years both having a wriggling flight and bursting 

 into fragments, but only very rarely. The wriggling is, I 

 suppose, caused by irregular combustion of the meteor, or 

 small explosions in different 'parts of it which divert it from 

 a straight course ; the splitting up into fragments by a larger 

 explosion. The latter is a fine sight in the case of a good- 

 sized meteor. A very large meteorite, weighing more than 

 a ton (2,5201b.), was found in 1909 near Murnpeowie, Australia, 

 and is believed to be a recent arrival. Two Novce, or new 

 stars, have appeared in the course of the year in the con- 

 stellations of Sagittarius and Lacerta respectively. It is 

 possible that some of these Novce have been caused by con- 

 cussions, as in the case of the meteors I have been mentioning, 

 which take fire on striking the air, but on a vastly larger 

 scale. Photographs of Nova Lacertae taken on November 

 19th and 23rd shew that the light of the star increased in 

 those 4 days 4,000-fold. In regard to the planets, observa- 

 tions on Mercury in France have revealed markings, especially 

 a dark patch on the southern horn, and confirm statements 

 that the periods of rotation and revolution are, like those of 

 the moon, equal. An observer in South Africa states that 

 on April 22nd, 1910, Venus was plainly visible all day long, 



