OBSEllVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 99 



4. The November Meteoric Shoiver in 1869. — In addition to the observations 

 of the November meteors in 1869, which were received by the Committee, the 

 following are some of the results obtained at the Italian Observatories, where 

 the sky was in general in a more favourable state for .observation than the 

 condition of the atmosphere '\\hich prevailed in England on the morning of 

 the 14th of November. 



The number of meteors seen at the Moncalieri and Perugia Observatories, 

 on the momiQg of the 14th of November, 1869, were in the half hours (in 

 Perugia in the hours) ending at November 14, 1869, a.m. ; — 



li li m h h m h h m h h m h h m h Total 

 iz 12 30 13 13 30 14 14 30 15 15 30 16 16 30 17 numbers. 



Moncalieri 3 46 57 64 79 70 62 80 80 92 77 710 



Perugia 2 39 ... 190 ... 246 ... 71 548 



Four maxima of frequency were observed at Moncalieri during the quarters 

 of an hour ending at 1" 4-5", 3" lo"", 4" 15", and 4" 45'" a.m. At Perugia 

 the sky was overcast untQ 1'' a.m., and frequent cumuli crossed the sky during 

 the remainder of the night. The principal maximum frequency of the meteors 

 appeared to occur between 3'' and 4'' a.m. ; and the agreement of these ob- 

 servations with the time of maximum at Port Said, Alexandria, where the 

 November shower was observed by Captain Tupman, U.M.A., will be gathered 

 from the following Table, which is extracted from the ' Monthly Notices of 

 the Eoyal Astronomical Society ' for December 1869. 



1869, November 13th, Alexandria Mean Time. 



Number of Elevation of 



meteors seen. radiant-point. 



To 

 h m 



13 15 o • *S 



14 40 16 35 



15 2'5 16 40 



197 16 43 



33-6 16 46 



525 16 50 



16 7-4 16 54 



24 16 57 



38 (6) 60 



52 (7) 63 



17 14 (4) 67 



During the observations included in brackets the sky was cloudy ; but in the 

 last two clearer than in the earlier part of the watch. The maximum took 

 place either before or about 14'' 30°', when the sky was first clear enough to 

 permit a systematic watch, and the number of meteors seen after this began 

 very rapidly to decline until the watch was finally abandoned. 



At the Mauritius a letter from the Secretary of the Meteorological Society, 

 Mr. Meldrum, to Mr. Glaisher announced that the November meteors were 

 seen on the morning of the 14th : from midnight until 4'' 40'" a.m. 439 meteors 

 were counted; and of these, 427 were seen between 3'' 20"° a.m. and 4" 40"" a.m., 

 showing the occurrence of a maximum towards the latter time. 



At Pensacola, in Plorida, the meteors were very numerous throughout the 

 morning of the 14th, appearing occasionally as frequently as from two or three 

 to twenty in a single minute, but no distinct time of the maximum could be 

 definitely fixed. 



At Santa Barbara, California, the number of meteors seen by Mr. George 



h2 



