OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. -89 



2. The Meteor-shower of November 1868, which was seen in its greatest 

 brilliancy in the United States of America, and which was also partially 

 recorded at Glasgow, by Professor Grant, between 5 and 6 o'clock on the 

 morning of the 14th of November, was observed at the same hours in the 

 north of Scotland, and described in the ' Journal of the Scottish Meteorolo- 

 gical Society' (for December 1868) : — ^^ Meteors and Falling-stars. — The star- 

 shower of the 13th and 14th of November was observed at many of the 

 stations. In the north it was very fine. Mr. Clark, the observer at North 

 Unst, writes : — ' On the morning of the 14th there was a great falling of 

 shootiug-stai's from all directions of the sky ; it was something like a shower 

 of stars.' And the Rev. Dr. Hamilton observes that at Bressay ' There 

 was an extraordinary meteoric shower, which continued from 3"" 30™ a.m. of 

 the 13th [? 14th] till the sun rose, and the number of stars or meteors falling 

 was innumerable.' " The following descriptions of its appearance in Swit- 

 zerland are given by Dr. Rudolf Wolf in his 'Astronomical Contributions': — 

 '« 1868, November 13th : from 12'' 5"> to 12'^ 15"" I saw four, from 12'^ IS" 

 to 12" 30" nine, and from 12'^ 30" to 12'^ 40" two brilliant meteors radia- 

 ting from the constellation Leo. The sky (up to the latter time quite clear) 

 then clouded over from the east, and all further view of the meteors at 

 Ziirich was prevented. Mr. Rieder, at Klosters, reports: — 'As an unusual 

 phenomenon I have to state that at 4*^ 15" on the morning of the 14th of 

 November, 1868, an extraordinary number of shooting- stars were visible in 

 the western sky ; from five untU six o'clock a real rain of shooting-stars took 

 place, diffusing such great brightness that one might easily have read by 

 their light. Several of the meteors left streaks of bright light in the sky, 

 which remained visible for two or three seconds.' At Eugelberg ' from five 

 until after six o'clock a.m. on the morning of the 14th of November, repeated 

 flashes of lightning were perceived, and shortly before five o'clock a swiftly 

 passing flash, like a ball of light, was observed, whilst the sky was com- 

 pletely overcast.' " An admirably compiled history of the November pheno- 

 menon in the year 1868, comprising the exact details of observations at aU 

 the places where it was well observed, and notices of its general description 

 at places in all parts of Europe, the United States of America, and the 

 Atlantic, where it was witnessed, is published in his Memoirs V. and VI., on 

 ' Shooting-stars of November 1868 and August 1869,' by Sig. F. Denza. The 

 same volume contains (in the sixth memoir) an equally full collection of obser- 

 vations and theoretical deductions of great value regarding the appearance of 

 the August meteor-shower in the year 1869. Among the latter may be cited 

 the suggestion of Professor Newton *, borne out by the observations of the 

 shower made in America, and by those of Professor Serpieri at Urbino in 

 that yearf, that the radiant-region of the Perseids is in reality a narrow, 

 elongated space extending from near the cluster at ^ Persei to the star B 

 (B. A. C. 1058) Camelopardi. The radiant-region of the Leonids in the pre- 

 vious year was similarly observed by Professor Newton to be better repre- 

 sented by a short line extending between the stars e, y Leonis, from about the 

 star .r, in the centre of the Sickle (B. A. C. 3423), to the latter star, than by a 

 single point. The direction of elongation of the radiant-region is towards the 

 sun's apparent place, a conclusion which is regarded by Prof. Newton as throw- 

 ing light of some importance upon the theory of the November meteor-stream. 



* Bulletins of the Eoyal Academy of Sciences of Belgium, ser. 2. vol. xxvi. 1868, 

 pp. 450, 451. 



t Letter from Prof. Serpieri to Prof. Scliiaparelli, January 5th, 1870 ; communicated 

 to the Royal Institute of Sciences of Lombardy. 



