Dec. 6, 1S83] 



'NATURE 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 



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Meteors 



Here, November has generally been unpropitious for astrono- 

 mical ob-ervations. However, during favourable intervRls I 

 have <een many brilliant meteors ; from twenty to thirty on an 

 average every night. They were principally seen with the face 

 to the north, and L:lancing from shoulder to shoulder; but not a 

 single Andromede did I ^ee. I had ihe pleasure of seeing alto- 

 ge her abdut a score of Leonids before the 12th and alter the 

 igili November. Leo Minoridsand Arietidswere plentiful, and a 

 goodly number of Geuiinids were seen ; but the richest field for 

 meteors during the month was in the neighbourhood of the 

 Plough. November 6, at 4.30 a.m., a large meteor passed from 

 7 UrsK Majoris right down to the horizon. From 4.35 to 5.15 

 three veritable Leonids proceeded from the Sickle ; one da-hed 

 dowii to the right-han<<, and another from the top of the Sickle 

 to the left over the Lion's back. They were very large. Novem- 

 ber 10, at 8 p.m., a brilliant meteor started from a point nearly 

 half way between Aldebaran and Saturn, and disappeared at a 

 point down more than halfway to the horizon. At g. 30 a very 

 bright one appeared at a point about l" above Castor and above 

 Jupiter to the north. At 11.25 ^" exceedingly large and bril- 

 liant meteor burst out from i° below Menkar (in the Whale), 

 and went down at right angles to the very horizon, leaving a long, 

 bright streak behind. November 11, a large one, at 0.15 a.m., 

 dropped down to the horizon from Q Ursce Maioris. At 0.55 a.m. 

 a very large one pr.iceeded from }f to the right of o Lacertae and 

 disappeared at 7 Cygni. November iS, at 1.40 a.m., a very 

 large reddish meteor burst out from the top of Ursa Major's 

 head, and passed right above Vega, and disappeared about e^ 

 beyond it in a strange sparkling explosion. At 1.55 a.m. a very 

 brilliant meteor dashed out about 2^ above a Arietis, went 

 through the Square of PegasUs, leaving a beautiful stream of 

 blue fire behind, and lasting a few seconds. About 5.30 another 

 large blue meteor passed from the centre of Leo's back through 

 a point 4" above Penebola, and ended in a beautiful explosion 

 15° beyond. On the night of November 22 there was a fine dis- 

 play of (uenerally) large meteors from Taurus to Ursa Major; 

 many of them proceeded from the Lion's Head. During the 

 month a great number of meteors passed from some point in 

 .Scorpio, under Jupiter and Mars, right into the Lion's Head. 

 They were all large and bright. During the last half of the 

 month some fine displays of morning meteors were seen. At 

 4 a.m., November 29, 1 observed a very large and swift meteor. 

 It lilazed oat from a point about 8° above Denebola, and dashed 

 with great velocity u|) the heavens, passing 4° above S l.eonis 

 and over the Lion's Head, and exploded about 5° beyond, 

 leaving a stream of the most beautiful blue light in its wal<e that 

 I ever witnessed. Donald Cameron 



Mossvale, Paisley, December 3 



As your columns frequently contain notices of meteors, I may 

 mention that I observed one of umisu.al brilliancy last night 

 (November 28) at 10.50. It appeared in the constellation 

 Tauiu~, and, following the line of the ecliptic, disapi cared 

 about five to ten degrees above the eastern horizon. The meteor 

 was visitile for not less than fifteen seconds, had a brilliant train 

 or cone of light of from two to three degrees in length, and out- 

 shone Jupiter, near which it passed. From the slow, angular 

 movement of the meteor I feel certain that the train was not an 

 optical impression, but a real luminous object. F.R.S.E. 



Edinburgh, November 29 



A FINE meteor was observed here by me at loh. 38m. last 

 night, Wednesday, November 28. Bursting into sight near 

 /; Ursas Majoris, it passed in a course almost parallel to, but 

 about 2° north of, a line joining a, 5, «, f, and i; Ursas Maj., its 

 light expiring near X Bodtis. Length of path = 40°. No train 

 was observed ; the only variation of uniformity of light being at 



about half \vay of iis passage, where it slithtly paled for an 

 instant and then as quickly recovered. Duration about four 

 seconds. Brilliancy three or four times Venus at its brightest. 

 Colour resembled that of magnesium light. W. Wickham 

 Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, November 29 



Last night, about 10.30, I saw a magnificent bolide shoot 

 across the sky in a northerly direction. It came from the middle 

 star in Orion's belt, and disajipeared at a point almost in a line 

 «ith " the Pointers " in the Great Bear, and at a distance below 

 the lower of the two stars almost equal to the distance between 

 them. Its path was perceptibly arched, but not to any great 

 extent, and, as far as I culd judge, it was not parabolic. When 

 the bolide first appeareri, it: seemed a mere luminous point 

 moving with great rapidity, and without a tail. But about half 

 way it suddenly grew laige and brilliant, a tail shot out, and the 

 path behind it remained luminous and distinct. I could com- 

 pare the bnlide at this point to nothing so much as to a red-hot 

 cannon ball emitting sparks of fire. It w"as accompanied by no 

 sound, and was gone in half a dozen seconds. During its pas- 

 sage the streets seemed 10 be lit up with the electric light. It 

 was apparently so close that I should think a few miles would 

 have made a very sensible difference in its apparent position in 

 the heavens. J. B. CJldham 



Stockport, Novennber 29 



Last night at llh z<o. I saw in the north-west, near the 

 horizon, one of those slow-moving balls of fire, not so bright as 

 an ordinary meteor, and leaving no trahi. This seemed the size 

 of a cricket ball ; lut I have seen one the size of a chece-plate. 

 A few flashes of lightning occurred soon after. From the slow- 

 ness of the motion the phenomenon seemed to be wholly atmo- 

 spheric. It was in sight for about three or four seconds. It 

 instantly suggested an incandescent vortex whorl ; but I cannot 

 say whether the appearance confirmed the idea or not, for I do 

 not know how such a meteor would look. Its red light might 

 be due to its proximity to the horizon, perhaps 8°. Hence there 

 is no dependence to be placed upon my impres-ion that the light 

 was the result of friction rather than of electricity. I have seen 

 probably a d' zen in the course of my life, always in the west or 

 north-west, and alv\ ays about the same height from the horizon, 

 but never anirakar. Henry H. Higgins 



Rainhill, December 4 



" Anatomy for Artists " 



May I add a few more words on the subject of Mr. Marshall's 

 book, atid in answer to his letter in Nature ? Mr. Marshall 

 says the reasons that led him to adopt the plan of omitting 

 reference letters to his illusti"atious of the bones "s'ill remain 

 sound." Turning to p. 30 of the book to learn those reasons. 

 I find he says that " The numerous minute points which demand 

 the attention of the anatomist and the surgeon necessitate such 

 aids ; l)ut the art-student's mind should be left unincumbered by 

 such unnecessary details." 



I cannot see that this is a reason ; I wanted references to what 

 is described in the text — to the necessary, not the unnecessary 

 details. 



Secondly, Mr. Marshall fays, "The pure form of the bones, 

 repreented on so small a scale, in black and white, would 

 have been seriously marred by such references." If this be 

 "sound," may there not be more and equally sound reasons 

 for opposing it ? I think there are ; and if ^Ir. Marshall will 

 turn to p. 136 of the bock, I will try to show him how his plan 

 works. The student reads there that "All the bones of the 

 hand are visible in the skeleton, on its palmar aspect (Fig. 58), 

 carfial, metacarpal, and phalangeal;" he turns to Fir:. S8, but 

 where is it? It is mentioned in a list of figures \m&ex three 

 illustrations. He has to make up his mind which of the three is 

 58, recalls that it is the palmar aspect, and goes on. He has no 

 clue, let Mr. JLarshall observe, by which to know wliich are the 

 carpal, metacarpal, and phalangeal portions of the hand for 

 which he originally looked at the p.ilmar aspect of it. He hopes 

 he m.ay come to that ; and, reading on, finds that the eight carpal 

 bones ai'e "in the carpus ; " but then, which is the carpus? He 

 does not know, and is not told. Never mind, he thinks, he will 

 find that out by the description of the single bones, and, begin- 

 ning w ith the first-mentioned, he reads that the semi-lunar bone 

 " . . . . occupies the centre of the first row, and is cre.scentic 



