82 



NATURE 



\Nov. 30, 1871 



A. Lawson, at Brancepeth, near Durham, is so perfectly similar 

 to its appearance as drawn and described to me by another ob- 

 server at Woodbuni, at the same hour on the same morning, 

 about twenty-miles north-west from Newcasde, and about thirty 

 miles from Durham, that its unusually briglit appearance near 

 Durham may not impossib'y correspond with equally favourable 

 views of it obtained by observers at more distant places. Tiie 

 sky, which remaiaed clear during the diy, clouded over towards 

 midnight on the 13th, and the stars were completely hidden 

 during the remainder of the night. A slight rain, which began 

 in the morning, also continued to fall during the day of the 14th, 

 and the sliy here remained entirely overcast on that evening 

 until after midnight. Sliortly before four o'clock on the morning 

 of the I5di the clouds cleared off, and the appearance of several 

 meteors, one of which was as bright as Jupiter, gave evident 

 signs of the progress ol the November star shower. The perfect 

 clearness and darkness of the sky, in the absence of the moon, 

 at the same time gave e-pecial brightness to the meteors and to 

 their phosphorescent streaks. Between four o'cloclc and the first 

 approach of daylight, at six o'chick, thirty-two meteors were 

 counted, or at the rate of si.xteen per hour, of which three wc-re 

 as bright, or brighter, than first magnitude stars, nine as bright 

 as second, six as bright as tliird, and eight no brighter than stars 

 of the fouith or lesser magnitudes. Twenty-six of these mettors 

 were directed from the usual radiant point m Leo, which on tlris 

 occasion, although not very well defined, appeared to beapproxi- 

 nia'ely close to the star Zeta, in Leo's sickle. About one half of 

 their number left persistent streaks, which sometimes appeared 

 to grow brighter after the meteors had disappeared, and I vainly 

 endeavoured to bring ihi-m into the field ot view of the direct- 

 visi'in prisms of a small speciroscope, the duration of the brightest 

 streaks noted scarcely ever exceeding one or two secou' s. A 

 very brilliant meteor, casting around a flash like that of lightning, 

 was seen here shorily alter nine o'clock on tire evening of the 

 13th (and its appearance was also noted at U'oodburn), traversing 

 the north-west sky. The e particulais, imperfect as they were, 

 unfortunately, rendered by the cloudy weaiher, are the only 

 descrip'ions of the November star-shuwer which its appearance 

 here has hitherto enabled me to supply. 



Newcastle-on-Tyne, Nov. 17 A. S. Herschei. 



"I had occasion to beat the station at 8.30 a.m. I then firsl 

 saw them. The night hid been hard froit with a clear sky. 

 The ground was covere 1 with hoar. There was no mist. Tne sun 

 was intensely bright, but the air was very chilly. I went home 

 and looked at Aiy thermometer in the p< achat the north side of my 

 house ; it stood at 29" F. I then went to the top of a hill to 

 have a better view. I instantly made a sketch of the phenomenon, 



a copy of which I enclose. The 1l wer \ art of the circle was 

 hidden by a bank of dark clouds. The upper part presented 

 the most marked appearance, and was intensely white. The 

 lump to the north side was more inten.se in colours than the 

 S'mthern, but both were distinct as to quantity of reflected light. 

 The co'ours were prismatic, but a bright amber prevailed. The 

 disappearance began at a few minutes before ten, and by five 

 minutes past f'n all had cleared away. With the exception of 

 the bank of clouds beneath, there were only a few pencils of 

 cirrus cloud in the sky. 



" Brancepeth, Durham, Nov. 13" 



Paraselene 



In Nature, Nov. 9, there appeared the description of a 

 remarkable paraselene observed at Highfield House on the 25th 

 of Oct. A similar phenomenon was seen at Penrith the same 

 night from about 10.30 to 11. As this, however, differed 

 altogether in detail from that observed by Mr. Lowe, I now 

 offer a sketch of what we saw. 



Thin mists and white flying scuds travelled across the sky. A 

 luminous ring of perhaps at a guess 150" radius encircled the 

 moon. Within this was a cross of the same brightness as the 

 encircling ring. The bars of the cross were to the eye horizontal 



and vertical, intersecting in the moon. Where the horizontal bar 

 cut the luminous ring there were bright patches of light (mock 

 moons), rivalling the moon, as seen through the mist, in brilliancy, 

 but without its defined outline. Where the vertical bar cut the 

 ring there was no increase of brightness. Such a portent in ages 

 gone by might well have filled ciusaders with hope, and perhaps 

 thus turned the tide of bdttle on the m^irrow. We may make a 

 useful note for future guidance by remarking what fodowed its 

 appearance in this district. Up to the 25th we had for some 

 time had very fine weatherr After the 25th we had five stormy 

 days of wind and rain. T.^McK. Hughes 



The Solar Parallax 



Proi'. Newco.mb wishes apparently to make this discussion 

 as personal as possible. Though I do not intend to follow him 

 in this respect, I must answer him. 



He asserts that my abstract of liis notes was inadequate ; that 

 I "hid the point of the most remarkable of" my "inaccuracies, 

 and ignored the imperfections entirely." This is not so. My 

 abstract was strictly accurate and very much fuller than the 

 utter triviality of his objections warranted. I distinctly stated 

 why I did not discuss the matters which he is pleased to regard 

 as imperfect — his comments being too vague. But this was not 

 ignoring them. His memoranda were not in a state to be printed 

 in full, nor d d he even hint that he wished them to be. 



As he himself characterises my mistake about his own re- 

 searc'nes as "the most remarkable of my inaccuracies," it is 

 fortunate that this mistake is also one I am forced to explain 

 at length, owing to the tone Prof Newcomb hjs laken 

 respecting it. I certainly did omit a part of Prof Neivcomb's 

 charge ; but in his own interest, for it was worded in the very 

 tone to which I now take exception. 



In the first place, it is not to be inferred that, because an 

 author comments on ^uch and such a work, he thereby wishes it 

 to be understood that he has himself studied the original memoir 

 in which the work was presented to the world. For instance : 

 many very eminent men have commented on the work of Adams 

 and Leverrier in the matter of Neptune who have not read a line 

 of the original reasoning of these astronomers. That I, of all 

 men (who have expressed something like contempt for memoir- 

 huiiting, and have always cared rather to explain methods and 

 describe facts than to write the history of astronomy), should be 

 exjiected to read every memoir to which I refer, is preposterous 

 in the extreme. It may seem only natural to Prof Newcomb 

 that when I heard of his having discussed the transit of Venus, 

 I should hurry to obtain his memoir that I might study it ab initio 

 usijiif ad Jinan ; but, as a matter of fact, a paper of the sort, evetr 

 il placed in my hands, would scarcely tempt me to take up my 

 paper-knife. 



Here are the facts of the case. 



I read in the Astronomical Register » letter which may be called 



