SHOWERS OF SHOOTING STARS. 241 



lions of miles round. Let the competitors be replaced by 

 the small objects which are suitable for the manufacture 

 of shooting stars. Let the number of these be magnified 

 until they attain to untold billions. Thus we obtain a 

 notion of the mighty celestial racecourse on which the 

 Leonids have for a thousand years at least been hurrying 

 along in a race, which is still in a comparatively early 

 stage of its progress. Many circuits have no doubt been 

 accomplished, the original host which started has been 

 drawn out into the long thin line which we have already 

 compared to a piece of silk. This contains the great 

 mass of the Leonids, but there are many of the meteors 

 which have been endowed with the gift of exceptional 

 fleetness. On the other hand, there are some which seem 

 not to have been able to keep up with the tremendous 

 speed of the main body. Thus it happens that all around 

 the mighty racecourse there are stragglers to be found, 

 each of which pursues its journey in its own fashion. 



If I have succeeded in giving you a picture of the con- 

 dition of the Leonids, of enabling you to realise how the 

 greater portion of the meteors form a comparatively dense 

 shoal, while around the rest of the course the meteors are 

 few and far between, it will then be easy to understand 

 the laws of recurrence of the November showers. 



It must be borne in mind that we can never see the 

 meteors until the fatal moment when they dive into our 

 atmosphere. We could, indeed, at any time point our 

 telescope to the spot in the heavens where we know the 

 great shoal must certainly be located. But the mightiest 

 telescope in the world does not disclose the shoal to us. 

 In fact we would never have seen these Leonids at all, we 



