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: Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. © 51 
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® Mr. Boyé further stated, that he hoped to be soon able to give a farther 
#3 
- concerning each meteor, made at the time of its appearance. 
account of this qoengsntes of the way in which it is obtained, and of 
some other similar reactions, which they are now engaged in studying. 
Mr. Vaughan exhibited from M. Alexandre Vattemare, a fac simile of = 
an original grant by Charles of England to William Penn; and also a 
fac simile of a deed of sale, by William Penn, of 20,000 acres of land, 
for 800 pounds sterling ; the original deed being in Penn’s hand-writing. 
Mr. Walker made an oral communication on the subject of the August 
shower of meteors. ; 
These meteors returned this year on the 9th instant, and were observed 
_at the High School Observatory, by Mr. Walker, as well as by Messrs. 
Forshey, of Louisiana, and Hamilton, of this city. The evenings of the 
40th and 11th, being partly cloudy, and the moon nearly full, no obser- 
vations were made. The evening of the 9th, however, was distinguished 
by all the peculiarities hitherto noticed in the August period. The fol- 
lowing table exhibits a classification of the meteors from memoranda, 
ta . 
Siete) Boss 
cS | Se 1 bs b>. 2 b> 
Meteors of August 9th, 1840. | => 2 eel es | fo | ey | Se 
5 no c s as] _ 
Sass hob se | s2 | 86 | sz 
- Soe ae g=8\e58| Bs | e8 | 3 |g 
emperative brilliancy. 22 5 gg ES 2 E+ oa & Z 
Sehiee 1S 1A AS 6 
F : Oo #. ea sf 5. 
Thrice that of Jupiter, 1 | 40 4.5 | 20 La 
Twice “ _ 6 0 1% 3.6 |°15 1.0 
| Equal to “ ° pele BAe ee oe oe 
First magnitude, ie a, Mies ca, rt a ak as 
Second fad B48 IOUS oe 2S | BOS 
| Phird “ 4 26 ase} <|09 14: | 04 
= te i 
Below third , Inone' 36 | 6 | 06) 4 | 04 
_ From an inspection of the table, Mr. Walker remarked, it will readily 
‘ppear, that these meteors differ from ordinary shooting stars, in their 
greater brilliancy, longer apparent paths, and the greater duration of their 
trains. Their most. important peculiarity, however, is the tendency of 
their apparent paths towards a common point of convergence in the celes- 
tial sphere, or in other words, their apparent divergence from a common 
radiant point near the head of Perseus. : 
_The existence of a common radiant point near 7 Leonis, for the great 
display of meteors, November 12th, 1833, was noticed by Messrs. Olm- 
om Twining, Aiken, Riddell, and others. 'The same may be inferred 
om the descriptions of Humboldt and Ellicott, in 1799; of Briggs, and 
0 i ; Sa 
_ Others, in 1832; and it has been manifest in every return of the Novem- 
t shower Witnessed since. 
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