728 THE UNIVERSE. 



The distance of the stars does not allow us to ascribe to 

 them the long trains of light which we see so frequently 

 traverse the heavens ; hence this phenomenon is at present 

 attributed to bodies entering our atmosphere. 



Twice in the year the sky is constantly traversed by a 

 prodigious quantity of these luminous trains ; in a single 

 hour we may at such times occasionally count 200 or 300. 



2G3. Swarm of Shooting-Stars at Sea. 



One of these periods occurs from the 10th to the 12th of 

 August, and it is to this phenomenon, which has long aston- 

 ished the vulgar, that the name of St. Laurence s rain has 

 been given, on account of his festival falling on the 10th of 

 August. These brilliant lights are looked upon by Irish 

 Catholics as the burning tears of the venerated saint. 



During the night of the 12th and of the 13th of No- 



