98 REPORT— 1872. 



be very erratic members of, the group directed from the radiaut-poiut in 

 Gemini. Tiie tracks of fourteen (or 5-i per cent, of those mapped) jjrolouged 

 backwards passed through a small circle about 12° in diameter, having its 

 centre about 3° from Castor, towards d Gemioorum, at 11. A. 108°, N. Decl. 

 33°, which was the apparent centre of divergence of the shower. About 

 one-half of the " Geminids " were brighter than second-magnitude stars, and 

 two of the brightest left a persistent streak of light on their course. They 

 appeared white, and their apparent motion was, in general, not swift. On 

 the evening of the 13th the sky at Hawkhurst was completely overcast. 



At Tooting, near London, a watch for their a])pearance was kept for 

 1" 20"', between 9" 40'" and 11'' 20'", by Mr. H. W. Jackson ; the sky was 

 quite clear, and the ajjparent paths of seven meteors directed from Gcmiui 

 were recorded on a map. Prolonged backwards the tracks of these " Gemi- 

 nids " aU crossed a small circle not more than 8° or 10° in diameter, whose 

 centre was nearly midway between Castor and Pollux (slightly towards the 

 neighbouring star i Geminorum), at R. A. 112°, N. Decl. 30°. In his remarks 

 on this night's observations Mr. Jackson observes that his attention was 

 wholly given to recording the apparent courses of the meteors with exact- 

 ness, so that their a2)parent places of appearance and disappearance, as drawn 

 upon the map, were probably not more than half a degree in error either way ; 

 and all the meteors whose apparent paths were drawn upon the map were 

 satisfactorily well observed. No particular attention was according^ given 

 to the appearances of meteors from other radiant-points, nor to the various 

 characters of brightness, duration, and of leaving persistent streaks which 

 were presented by the Geminids that were observed. On the evening of the 

 13th the sky at Tooting was completely overcast. 



A definite radiant-point of the shower very near to the latter position 

 appears also to be indicated by the appearance of one of the meteors of the 

 December group, with a very short course, on the same evening, as observed 

 by Mr. W. F. Denning at Bristol. The sky was generally unfavourable for 

 observations on both evenings of the 12th and 13th of December ; but the 

 descent of a large meteor (as described in the foregoing list) was noted near 

 the western horizon at 9'' 42"", and three other meteors were seen during a 

 short interval of a quarter of an hour on the night of the 12th, when the 

 sky was clear, and a watch was kept by Mr. Denning for the return of the 

 December meteors. " At 10'' 3'" p.m. a small meteOr was seen. It was 

 evidently in close proximity to the radiant-point, its path being very short, 

 and not extending over more than one or two degrees. It diverged from 

 t Geminorum (about 4° S. of Castor), and was of momentary duration. 

 The direction of its extremely short path seemed to be towards the zenith. 



" At 10'' 18"" I saw a much brighter meteor. It emanated from Gemini, 

 and passed to the horizon in the south. One part of the path occupied a 

 place about 8° south of Bigel in Orion ; there was no tx'ain. Other meteors 

 were seen, but the exceedingly clouded state of the sky rendered it impossible 

 to note their paths." 



The following observation of a single meteor at Birmingham on the night 

 of the 13th, together with a notice of the appearance of the shower as 

 recently recorded there in previous years, was received from Mr. Wood : — 



"December 12th, Meteoric Epoch. — Birmingham Observations. 



" In 1866. — See the British Association Reports for that year. 

 " In 1867. — No observations ; probably from bad weather, or impeded by 

 moonlight. 



