I04 



NATURE 



{Dec. 3, 1885 



tlie Leonids in 1S66, in which there was a larger propor- 

 tion of brilliant meteors, many of them coming iri flights 

 of three to six at once, all near together ; but with that 

 exception the display of the Andromedes this year was 

 the finest piece of celestial pyrotechny I have ever had 

 the good fortime to witness. We seemed to stand under 

 an encircling canopy of dropping lights. 



Birstal Hill, Leicester, Nov. 28 F. T. MOTT 



An extraordinary meteoric display was visible here last 

 night. I first observed it at 6.40 p.m., and was watching 

 it at intervals for more than an hour later, when the sky 

 became overclouded. Altogether the number of shooting- 

 stars was immense. Unlike the correspondent of the 

 Daily News, who observed a similar phenomenon at 

 Naples the same night, I was unable to count the number 

 per minute. Appearing suddenly, and often many at a 

 time, in all parts of the heavens, from the zenith to the 

 horizon, they quickly disappeared from view, the distance 

 travelled not being more than a few degrees in any case. 

 .Some were much more luminous than others, and all in 

 their passage through the air were followed by the usual 

 trail of light. E. F. BATES 



Leicester, November 28 



Though densely cloudy during the afternoon of the 

 27th, the sky became clear here about 6.30 p.m., when 

 great numbers of meteors were to be seen, falling at the 

 rate of fully 60 per minute, many being of great brilliancy. 

 During the evening their number gradually decreased, till 

 towards 10 o'clock very few were visible. The sky then 

 again became overcast. PERCY T. INGRAM 



Belvoir Gardens, Grantham, November 29 



The star-shower predicted by several astronomers was 

 well seen here on Friday evening last. When first ob- 

 served, at 5.30, the rate of fall was 25 per minute; 

 the numbers, however, increased rapidly during the next 

 half-hour, till, at 6 o'clock, more than 100 meteors were 

 counted in a minute. 



At 6.20 a marked decrease in the intensity of the shower 

 was noted ; but at 6. 38 the numbers once more increased, 

 till a rate of 70 per minute was attained ; after this, 

 however, they gradually diminished as the hours went on. 

 It is right to mention that the numbers given above are 

 those of the meteors seen by an observer looking towards 

 the east ; they do not represent the total number that fell 

 at these two periods. 



The radiant-point, as indicated by the position of several 

 meteors which suddenly flashed out without sensibly 

 changing their position, was close to y Andromeda, or, 

 more'^ exactly, R.A. iV, N.P.D. 46°. 



Most of the meteors were mere "shooting-stars"; a 

 large number, however, had brilliant phosphorescent 

 trains, which continued to glow for several seconds after 

 the meteors themselves had vanished. Occasionally one 

 of the trains would break up into fragments, and in one 

 instance a curious spiral form was assumed. 



A special feature of the shower was its varying inten- 

 sity and that more particularly between 6 and 7 o'clock. 

 ' James Smieton 



Broughty Ferry, Dundee, Noxember 30 



OUK Paris Correspondent writes : — The shower of fall- 

 ino- stars has been observed at a number of French 

 stations— Toulouse, Central France, Tunis, and Algiers. 

 The point of emanation was, in the case of some of them, 

 between Andromeda and Cassiopeia. In Paris it was 

 not observed, owing to the foggy state of the atmosphere, 

 and no balloon observation having been tried. 



The following letters on the meteors appeared in the 

 Times of Saturday : — 



Mr. T. G. Dyson, of i, Rothesay 'Villas, Windsor, wrote 

 on Friday night : — " I was fortunate in witnessing this 

 evening from 5. 15 to 6.40 a most magnificent shower of 

 stars, which might be compared to a flight of swallows, 

 with a lull of a few seconds between each flight. Al- 

 though the sky was anything but clear — only stars of the 

 larger magnitude being visible — the meteors were brilliant, 

 and in many instances left a distinct trail behind them. 

 The direction was principally from east to west, varying 

 to north-west." 



The Leicester Correspondent of the Times telegraphed 

 last night : — " A remarkable display of meteors was 

 witnessed in Leicestershire to-night from dusk until a 

 late hour. The display was most brilliant towards the 

 western horizon, the meteors falling in perpetual 

 showers, with brilliant trails, like a very fine display of 

 fireworks." 



A Reuter telegram from Athens, dated November 27, 

 says : — A brilliant shower of meteors was observed here 

 to-night." 



A Newcastle-on-Tyne correspondent telegraphs : — 

 " There was a splendid meteoric display here. I saw 

 about 500 an hour. Radiating point Cassiopeia." 



Prof. Pritchard, of the LTniversity Observatory at 

 Oxford, telegraphs that he counted 251 meteors between 

 6,34 and 6.39 p.m., and 305 between 7.14 and 7.19. 



In case no one else may have reported the complete 

 fulfilment of the prediction suggested by Lord Crawford's 

 Uun Echt Circular allow me a few lines to do so. 



I did not begin to observe systematically until nearly 

 S p.m. (7h. sSm.), when I found that, confining my atten- 

 tion to one-third of the sky (south-south-east to west- 

 north-west), and computing therefrom, meteors were 

 falling at the rate of 33 a minute. Shortly after this they 

 became more numerous, and from 8h. 5m. to 8h. lom. 

 they were falling at the rate of 56 a minute (nearly one a 

 second), or more than 3000 an hour. From 8h. 30m. to 

 9h. 30m. the view was much hindered by cloud, but it 

 was evident that the number was decreasing. From 

 gh. 30m. to I oh. the average fell to about 12 a minute, or 

 scarcely a fifth of what it was at 8h. 5m. ; and shortly 

 after 10 p.m. the sky became entirely overcast. 



I well remember the glorious shower in i866. On 

 that occasion the meteors were both larger and more 

 numerous than they have been this evening, but occa- 

 sionally they were very frequent — for example, at 

 /h. 59m. five were visible in less than two seconds (the 

 precise period was one second and six-tenths). 



G. J. Symons 



62, Camden Square, N.W., November 27 



In Paris, according to the Times Correspondent, the sky 

 was overclouded all Friday night, but the meteor-shower 

 was seen to advantage in the South of France, in Belgium, 

 Germany, Spain, and Italy, as also in Tunis, where the 

 natives were much startled. At Chatelhdrault the 

 meteors were well seen. At Cologne, Dr. Klein counted 

 636 between 6 and 7 o'clock, though the sky 

 was at times overclouded. Most of them moved 

 very slowly and left a trail of light, which quickly 

 disappeared. Four were large and brilliant enough 

 to be styled fire-balls. From 7.30 to 8 he counted 309, 

 from S.30 to 9 there were 375, and from 9 to 9.30 there 

 were 208. The sky then became cloudy. Not one can 

 have reached the ground, for they must have burned out 

 and dispersed in the upper atmosphere. At Munich the 

 sky was perfectly clear, and the display was very striking. 



THE LATE SIR WILLIAM SIEMENS 



ON Thursday last the relations and friends of the late 

 Sir William Siemens assembled in the Jerusalem 

 Chamber of Westminster Abbey for the purpose of doing 



