8G REroRT— 1873. 



meteors were counted between 9^ 30™ and midnight, of which forty-six 

 fell during the last hour. The courses of fifty-six bright meteors were 

 mapped during a watch of about eight hours on the nights of the 9th, 

 10th, and 11th, with an average hourly rate of appearance, for one observer, 

 of three bright meteors on the 9th, nine on the 10th, and ten on the 11th, 

 all of them directed from Perseus. The Perseids were of all magnitudes, 

 but the greater number of bright ones (in proportion to the number visible) 

 made their appearance on the 11th. They presented the appearances com- 

 mon to the meteors of this radiant ; and some of them left 

 brilliant streaks of blue light, which expanded after the o -< r- ~r :=>- 

 disappearance of the nucleus, fading gradually from the ends 

 towards the centre. In several instances I noticed that the nucleus was 

 apparently separate from the train, the brighter ones reminding me very 

 much of the corresponding shower of 1863." 



On the nights of the 10th and 11th the sky was overcast at Edinburgh 

 and Glasgow ; but several bright meteors were seen at Glasgow on the nights 

 of the 7th, 8th, and 9th by Professor Herschcl, one of which shot with a 

 flash overhead at about 12'' 48™ a.m. on the 9th, resembling faint lightning. 

 At Edinburgh on the 9th, and at Sunderland on the 11th and 12th, the 

 paths of fifteen Perseids were also mapped by Mr. T. W. Backhouse, 

 although the sky was obscured at Sunderland by thick fog and haze. At 

 Knocklong in Ireland a good view of the shower was obtained by Mr. 

 Jeremiah Henly, whose description of its appearance was communicated to 

 the Committee by Mr. "W. F. Denning : — " Although I did not reckon the 

 actual number visible, I considered that more meteors appeared on the 11th 

 than on the 10th. On the 11th, in about three hours, I witnessed thirty- 

 three of remarkable brilliancy, whUe on the 10th, in the same space of time, 

 only twenty-seven of a similar character were visible ; but the smaller 

 meteors I did not reckon on either night." Mr. Denning also regarded the 

 shower at Bristol as at least as intense on the second as on the first night 

 of its appearance, and thus describes the principal characters of the meteors 

 seen : — " The majority of the meteors were accompanied with trains, 

 which, however, disappeared immediately on the extinction of the head. 

 Most of those seen were white, but several appeared blue, and some 

 of a yellow colour. No sound was heard after the explosion of any of 

 them. The meteors were most numerous on the night of the llth-12th; 

 and the same was the case in the year 1869, according to my own 

 observations." 



At Hawkhurst the paths of 107 bright meteors were recorded with more 

 or less detail by one observer, during a watch of about ten hours, on the 

 nights of the 9th-13th of August, lasting about three hours (until shortly 

 after midnight) on each of the first three nights, and for a shorter time on 

 the other two. The average hourly numbers noted on the former nights 

 were six bright meteors on the 9th, sixteen on the 10th, and eleven of 

 similar character on the 11th. Three brilliant meteors appeared on the 

 night of the 12th, and one on the night of the 13th, among ten bright ones 

 recorded in an hour on the former, and seven in the same time on the latter 

 night. Of these, the first (already stated to have been seen at the Royal 

 Observatory, Greenwich) appeared at lO'' 46" 30' p.m., with a sensible disk 

 and apparently fully as bright as Yenus, of dazzling bluish-white light, 

 crossing ft UrsEe Minoris from a point about half a degree below Polaris, be- 

 ginning at R. A. 40°, N. Decl. 891°, and ending at R. A. 225°, N. Dccl. 75°. 

 It left a bright streak which remained visible, on its whole course for about 



