-on ‘*Oreodon Remains in the Woodwardian Museum, 
1873] bE 
The Oreodon Remains in the Woodwardian Museum 
My attention has just been accidentally called to some okie 
‘am- 
bridge” in your number of August 14. 
I hasten to correct an error into which your correspondent has 
fallen as to the locality in which the remains to which he refers 
were obtained. I did not visit the Mauvaises Terres of Ne- 
braska, but collected all my specimens in the valley of the John 
Day River, in Upper Oregon, about long, 120° 10’ W., lat. 
° Y. ’ a 
Most of the specimens are from near the head of a small 
stream called Bridge Creek, a locality well known to Prof. 
Marsh, whose new species of Oreodon described in the American 
Journal of Science and Art was possibly obtained there. A few, 
however, are from the Great Cafion higher up on John Day’s 
River, nearly opposite Old Camp Watson, where I passed the 
winter of 1871-72. 
f1I was informed by a gentleman who accompanied Prof. 
Marsh’s Yale College Expedition, in October 1871, that they had 
on that occasion found a skull of a new and unusually large 
species of Oreodon in one of the places above mentioned. But 
your correspondent is probably acquainted with all the descrip- 
tions that have been published in America, and will know 
whether the Oreodon superbus of my informant has or has not 
yet been christened in print. 
I have regretted much since my return that I only devoted 
parts of three days to a search for these interesting remains. 
WALSINGHAM 
Merton Hall, Thetford, Sept. 5 
Bright Shooting Stars 
I BEG to send you the following particulars of the observed 
paths of nine bright shooting stars recently seen here, 
Began Ended senoth APPTOX: 
. Apparent Dec. Dec, “EPS? Radiant 
Refi Date. Time. Mag. RAN RAL oy! ofpath “Point. 
xr July 28 aon =1 210” 49° 200° 38° 14° Pegasus 
2 5, 28 11.48 istmag. * 202 44 1934 36 zo Pegasus 
3's, 30 O45 istmag.* 42 435 45 36 84 x Persei 
4 Aug. 2 11.40 = Y 43° «54 62 56 12 egasus 
5 3 67 9.33 2X9 190 59. 195 30 30 Polaris” 
Ci sd kin xo. = 4.675 196 73 30 «x Persei 
i » 9 10.29 1stmag. °K 37 45 50 42 zo Andromeda 
2 9 11.25 1stmag. * 337 59 304 50 20 x Persei 
9 ‘» 9 %229 Istmag.% 28 41 12 46 x2 Andromeda 
No. 5 in the above list was the brightest, and left a very per- 
ceptible train just N. of Cor. Caroli for 7%. No.9 also lefta 
train, visible for 35, N. of 7 Andromedz. 
The evening of August 9 was clear, and two observers 
counted thirty-five meteors in the interval between roh. 15m. and 
1th, 45m., after which time clouds obscured the sky. During 
the night of August 10 it remained overcast. Of the thirty-five 
shooting stars seen on August 9, the great majority were 
Perseids, but the radiant region is diffusely extended from the 
star group at x Persei to 1b Camelopardali, There were also 
indications of radiation from Pegasus and Andromeda. The 
August meteors of this year appear to have been Jarger than 
those seen in former years ; at any rate bright meteors have been 
exceptionally abundant during the dates included in the above 
list. WILL1aM F. DENNING 
Bristol, August 11 
November Meteor Shower of 1872 
Mr. E. D. Jones, of San Paulo, Brazil, has sent me the en- 
closed extract from his diary, referring to the meteor shower 
of November last, which he observed whilst crossing the 
Atlantic. ; 
- HENRY C. BEASLEY 
Gateacre, Liverpool, Sept. 3 
‘Noy. 27, 1872, s.s. Halley, N. lat. 11°30’, W. long. 26° 50’. 
—There was a splendid shower of meteors this evening. I saw 
them shooting in profusion as soon as it was dark (about half- 
past six). Isat in a chair on deck facing the west, where Jupi- 
ter was flaring in the tropic sky, and watched the flying 
messengers from other worlds. I counted no less than 400 in 
half an hour, that is at the rate of about 14 per minute. They 
came in shoals, asit were. There would bea long pause, and then 
five or six would fly across together, reminding me forcibly of the 
ot eee ea . ‘ 
“I Ce ae 
NATURE 
a te 
385 
flying-fish we had seen in the daytime, Every now and thena much 
brighter one than usual would flash into existence, and leave a trail 
of beautiful reddish light behind. Generally speaking, they were 
as bright as a star of the second magnitude. But the brighter 
ones I speak of were quite equal to stars of the first magnitude. 
One splendid one at about eight o’clock (local time) was so bright 
that it lit up the sails of the ship ; it was of a red colour, and 
burst in two before disappearing. One later on left a trail 
which I could distinguish for half a minute. I was able to trace 
the point in the heavens from which the meteors emanated, viz., 
a point near the northern extremity of Perseus, between that 
constellation and Andromeda. About this point I often saw 
them come into view, and die away with scarcely any apparent 
motion, on account of their coming in a straight line towards 
the observer ; below this point they fell towards the horizon, 
above it they fell across the zenith, and so on. Those with the 
longest path were in the western sky (opposite Perseus), as the 
view was the least fore-shortened there. The position of the 
Halley was that given at the heading of this extract. The follow- 
ing table shows that we probably did not see the thick of the 
shower, having passed it by daylight :— 
| n 
| z 2 é | 
oun | See cee 
8.30 P.M 8 minutes | 12°5 
8. 38 » 7 » | 14°3 
8.45 Vee | 14°3 
10.5 17» | 59 
10.22 ” 17 ” ’ 5 9 
10.49 ,, 22 ee ; 4°6 
12.15 A.M. 30s | 2°8 
“The reasons that the first observation gives fewer than the 
second, may be that the twilight did not allow of the less bril- 
liant meteors being seen ; that the eye of the observer was not 
so well practised in detecting them; and the light clouds flying 
through the air may have obscured some of them, The other 
observations show a regular decrease in the numbers from 8'45 
P.M. 
“T counted 750 meteors in my observations, and saw quanti- 
ties more besides. Of course I could only see about one-third 
of the sky at a time, but I was looking in the direction of the 
thickest fall most of the time, so that I daresay I saw half the 
number that actually fell ; taking this for granted, there must 
have been 3,500 between 8.30 P.M. and 12.15 A.M., Greenwich 
mean time.” 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE GREAT WEST 
WE are now in possession of facts which will sup- 
plement our last reference to this subject. The 
following names may be added to the list of scientific 
men accompanying the Wheeler Expedition engaged on 
surveys west of the 1ooth meridian :—Mr, Severance, 
ethnologist; Drs. H. C. Garrow and J. L. Rothock, 
naturalists; Mr. H. Stewart Brown, meteorologist ; 
Messrs. Klett and Louis Mell, topographers. The entire 
force numbers 175 men. 4 
The surveying party of Mr. Clarence King, geologist, 
designated as the Geological Survey of the 4oth parallel, 
has just finished its work and is recently disbanded, 
Among the scientific men accompanying it were Messrs. 
J. G. Gardner (astronomer and geographer), Wilson 
(topographer), J. D. Hague (mining geologist), Emmons 
(assistant geologist), Arnold Hague (chemist and mineral- 
ogist), Robert, Ridgway (zoologist), and S. Watson 
(botanist). The force is largely absorbed by other expedi- 
tions now in the field. The results of this expedition are 
expected to fill five quarto volumes and accompanying 
atlases ; of which one on mining in Nevada and adjacent 
territories with folio atlas will be by Mr. Hague, and one 
on botany is already published. The remaining volumes 
are well under way and will, it is expected, be completed 
during the present year. 
There is an expedition known as the International 
ee Aa et 
