Dec. 17, 1885] 



NA TURE 



16' 



Willi regard to the display of the present year, the want of 

 observations on November 12 and 13 will not allow us to form 

 a safe judgment as to its character. Probably it has been below 

 the average. As to the individual meteors recorded at this sta- 

 tion, they were generally small, and, with one exception, need 

 no comment. The brightest appeared at 5h. 3m. a.m. on 

 November 15, and was estimated very nearly equal to Jupiter. 

 Its path of 12° lay 5° south of (3 and 7 Draconis, and it left a 

 vivid streak there for about five seconds. 



As to the numerous contemporary showers of this epoch, they 

 aie extremely interesting, and some of them were observed this 

 year with unusual distinctness. In preceding years I have 

 registered a considerable number of Taurids and Muscids at this 

 epoch, but during my late observations not many were noticed. 

 I was, however, watching a region of the heavens far removed 

 from the radiant points of these showers — a fact which may in 

 some measure explain the apparent paucity of their meteors. 

 But on the 15th and i6th a few of the slow-moving Taurids 

 were seen traversing long flights amongst the stars of Leo 

 Minor and Ursa Major. At 2h. 20m. a.m. on November 16 one 

 fell in a path of 17° slightly to the left, and very nearly parallel 

 to tlie stars ^ and ij of Ursa Major. It was brighter than 

 Jupiter, and exhibited a small yellowish-white disk, varying in 

 magnitude in a most curious manner. During its course the 

 meteor ajjpeared to halt and rekindle with increased impetus 

 several times, and short trails of sparks were thrown off at the 

 points of maximum brightness. 



Below I give a summary of all the radiant points derived from 

 my a.m. observations on November 15-1S last : — 



Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5 are important. They severally furnish 

 meteors of the swift streak-leaving class. No. 6 represents the 

 centre of a few Taurids, and Nos. 7 and 8 are positions derived 

 from slow meteors not very far from Polaris. Nos. 9 and 10 are 

 a pair of sharply-defined radiants in Auriga, and No. 11 is an 

 entirely new shower which I observed on the morning of the 

 17th and i8th. Only three of its meteors were recorded, but 

 their paths intersect at a point, and I believe the position is 

 reliable. 



The radiant No. 2 at 154° -f 41°, near fi Ursre Majoris, is the 

 best of all, and has often been seen in previous years. It is 

 evidently the same as the " very active shower " described by 

 me in N.atuke, vol. xv. p. 158, as observed here from the 

 point 155° + 36°, on November 20-28, 1876. It is also 

 identical with the shower seen from 155° -(- 35° by Father 

 Perry at Stonyhurst College Observatory on November 13-15, 

 1879 {monthly Notices, January, 1880, p. 140). Not only in 

 November, but in many other months, does this particular 

 radiant point manifest itself I have summarised the positions 

 from September to December, though the shower is still sus- 

 tained with equal definiteness until May : — 



Epoch 



Obi. 



itlhority 



D. From Zezioli's obs. 



D. Obs. in 1877 



D. Obs. in 1877 



D. Obs. in 1879 



Tupman (estimated) 



D. From Italian obs. 



Denza 



Perry. Obs. in 1879 



D. Obs. in 1885 



D. Obs. in 1876 



Backhouse 



Backhouse 



D. From various foreign 



obs. 

 Schiaparelli and Zezioli 



The positions marked "D." are those resulting from my own 

 observations or reductions. The two radiants at 160° + 40°, 

 by Tupman and Backhouse, may possibly relate to another 



bordering shower, bnt the position is very close to the mean 

 of all at 



I54°"4 + 40°"4- 

 This is a shower (or series of showers) which eminently stands 

 in need of further investigation. The radiant appears to be 

 stationary and continuous for a long period. The shower at 

 166° + 31°, 10° north of S Leonis, which I detected this year, 

 has escaped me before, though it was seen at Stonyhurst in 

 1879, November 13-15, at 166° -f- 22°. As to position No. 5 in 

 my present list, I saw that well on November 12, 1877, at 

 125° + 40°. With reference to the radiant No. 4 at 144° + 50°. 

 close to fl Ursx, I have not recognised it in November until 

 this year, but in October last I determined a good radiant at 

 143° + 49° from meteors seen in the morning sky. 



These circum-Leonid streams reappear with more or less 

 distinctness every year, and their radiant points are sharply 

 defined. It would be well to thoroughly study the durations of 

 several of them, now that their positions have been ascertained 

 with a considerable degree of accuracy by several observer. 



Bristol, November 19 William F. Denning 



NOTES FROM THE OTAGO UNIVERSITY 



MUSEUM 



VII.— 0« some Models Illustrathtg Phyllotaxis 



TDHYLLOTAXIS is a subject which presents special diffi- 



culties to the student when illustrated only by diagrams 



and by actual specimens of plants. With these aids alone it 



ns..- 



F/fif.5 



eighth actual size; o-i, the leaf 

 :, telescoped, the upper edges of all the cylinders being 



Fig. I. — Vertical section of model, 

 knobs. 



Fig. 2.— The 



brought to one level, 



Fig. 3. — The same, telescoped, and viewed from above. 



Fig. 4.^0ne of the cylinders from above : a, the fixed leaf-knob ; i, c, d, 

 holes for the insertion of movable knobs. 



Fig. 5. — Wire stars to represent orthostichies : a, for divergence of one- 

 third ; B, for two-fifths ; c, for three-eighths. 



entails an expenditure of time, out of all proportion to the im- 

 portance of the subject, to make clear in a lecture or demonstra- 

 tion the principles of leaf-arrangement and the mode of con- 

 struction of the leaf-diagram. 



I find the model about to be described of great assistance in 

 explaining these matters. It consists of a "nest " of nine con- 



