256 



KNOWLEDGE. 



Jn.v, 1911 



To ([uotc the same ssveet singer (Mr. S. R. Lysaght) 

 " We are faithless of life, and 

 in creeds our unfaith do we 

 hide: the world that our faith 

 should unite with our creeds 

 we divide."' 



It saw {)olitieal war, each 



T7^ ~"^"',"^« party fighting for power and 



/ ■ *i', "^1 proclaiming an immediate 



-V- T-. ■ ■ 



"■^.M Uto[)ia if they gam it; and the 



report the progress made in the preparation of an Paul ! . . . I of Apollos ! . . . I of Cephas '. " and 



enormous photographic atlas of the hea\'ens. which onh' a small minorit\- who actually " li\e "' Christ. 



was begun in 1887 and will not he finished tor 



another ten years. On this 



map o\'er forty million stars 



will be marked, and when 



complete it ^\ill represent the 



combined work of astronomers 



of nations otherwise divided 



b\- race, creed, and commercia 



interests. 



Comets are ever a means 

 of promoting peace among'-t 

 widely separated nationalities. 

 A good example is furnished by 

 the "hairy star" discovered by 

 Mr. Morehouse, of America. 

 This comet in its Course passed 

 almost from the North to the 

 South Pole, and e.xhibited man\' 

 variations in form am 

 brilliancv. It was seen and 

 photographed b\- astronomers 

 at nearh' all the observatories 

 in the world and thus a com- 

 plete record of the histor\- of 



this beautiful object was obtained Iw the united 

 efforts of the students of the heavenly science. 



In its journey past this "little sun-lighted wanderer 

 in the depths of the Infinite" — as one of our greatest 

 living poets terms the Earth : — it saw many sad 

 sights. Fierce rivalry and doctrinal quarrelling 

 the \'arious sects, each cr\-ing " I am of 



Figure 6. 



Commemorative Medal of the Societe 

 .^stronnmique de I'rance. 



universal struggle, and keen 

 competition of commerce ; yet 

 quiet, and apart from all the 

 turmoil of life, it found a 

 de\oted band of astronomers 

 whom no differences of creed, 

 nationality or interest could 

 deter from cooperation in 

 studying its gauzy, fairy-like 

 self! 



Surely, then, if we teach the 



nations even the elementary 



truths of this great science and 



gi\e them a common and united 



interest in the starry realms, we lift their thoughts 



hea\enward and appeal to those higher emotions in 



the human soul, which e\er make iov peace. Let all, 



then, who love science unite in striving to teach 



its man\- lessons to the inhabitants of Earth, so 



that in the fulness of time those that are "afar 



oft" may draw near in unity, peace and concord. 



SPRING AND .SUMMER .SHOOTING STARS. 

 Bv W. 1". DENNING. F.R.A.S. 



I OBSfiRVED seventy-eight meteors in May, during watches 

 extending over twenty-two-and'a-half hours in the aggregate. 



Very fortunately, this year one of the meteors was 

 seen by Mr. Fiamrnetta Wilson, at Reigate, and by myself 

 at Bristol, on May 24th. Details are given at the end 

 of this note, and I also give the real path of a bright long 

 meteor, recorded by the same observers from the radiant at 

 350°-f-37' on May 29th. This shower is a remarkable one 

 from the exceptional swiftness of its meteors in September. 

 The radiant being a long way from the earth's apex in that 

 month, we should expect onh' slow flights from it, but I have 

 recorded them as i^ery swift. 



May meteors are very rarely abundant, but I found them 

 unduly plentiful on the 24th this year. Clouds \'eiled the stars 

 in the early evening, but a west wind cleared the sky at about 

 10.15 p.m., and the stars afterwards shone with a splendour 

 not often equalled at this time of the year. I saw eighteen 

 shooting stars in one-and-a-quarter hours. 



July may be regarded as the advent of the meteoric 

 observer's prolific season. This month always exhibits a great 

 increase in the frecjuency of meteoric phenomena. At the 

 middle of the month the earth may be said to emerge from 

 the region of scarcity which she has been traversing since the 

 middle of December to enter a space far more richly 

 occupied with these tiny planetoids which illumine our 

 skies in the form of shooting stars. The first fortnight of 

 July usn.T-lly gives few meteors, but Perseids acti\'el\- durin.n 



the last week. .4n observer may sometimes count twenty 

 or twenty-fi\-e meteors per hour and more than three times 

 the number ordinarily visible in the spring months of the year. 

 It is to be hoped that, as the heavens will now for some time 

 present such an abundance of meteors, many observers will 

 specially watch for them and record details of all the brighter 

 objects. It is important this work should be performed for 

 the purpose of securing duplicate observations, of the same 

 objects, at two stations. Without these data it is often difficult 

 to ascribe the correct radiant points and the real paths cannot 

 be determined. 



