OBSERVATIOXS OF LUillXOU^J METEORS. 105 



uing informed the Committee that 'Sir. Kiiobel, at Burton-on-Treut, had 

 observed " many meteors in April, particularly on April 14th, 1872. They 

 appeared to radiate from a point in ]3ootcs east of ^ Eootcs." This point, 

 which is very near to /j Herculis, was nearly in the direction of the last two 

 meteors seen by Mr. Greg, and in the position of the general radiant Q, „ * 

 of meteors first beginning to be seen about the 23rd of April, but which 

 appears from these observations to present itself close to the same position at 

 least ten days earlier, on about April 12th. (See the Table at the end of 

 this llcport. Eadiant, No. 51.) 



The night of tire 19th of April, 1872, was generally not iinfavourable for 

 observations at most of the British-Association stations. At York, until 

 nearly 11** r.ir., the sk'y was nearly overcast ; but at that hour the clouds 

 began to disperse, and soon after the beginning of the watch they had finallj- 

 disappeared. During the succeeding interval between 10'' 45'" and 11'' 45"^ 

 r.M. nine meteors, two of tliem as bright and two brighter than fii'st-mag- 

 nitude stars, were observed, six being visible in the first and only three 

 meteors, Avith two or three faint flashes near a Lyra?, in the last 45'" of the 

 watch. From 11'' to 11'' 15'" there seemed to be quite a brisk shower, but 

 after that time their rate of fall diminished considerably. The Ly raids were 

 all noticeably rapid in their flight, their courses varying from 5° to 2-5° in 

 length, and the duration, even of the longest, scarcely exceeding half a 

 second. They were colourless or white, and there was a noticeable absence 

 of streaks upon their course. Two or three meteors diverged from a radiant, 

 No. 53 of Schiaparelli, in Comte Berenices, apparently connected with the 

 radiant S^ ., near the same constellation, in Virgo, of Heis ; others from M^ ; 

 and five of the nine shooting-stars whose courses were mapped were Lyraids. 

 The brightest of these appeared at 11'' 28°^, and its apparent course was also 

 noted at Wisbeach and at Hawkhurst. The radiation of the Lyraids was 

 not very exact ; but the courses of three, prolonged backwards, intersected 

 each other very nearly at a point in II. A. 280°, N. Decl. 43°, near tt Lyra?. 

 Some further observations on the progress of the shower will shortly be given 

 from Mr. Clark's report of its appearance. 



At Buntingford a clear sky prevailed on tlie 19th, between 11'' 15"' and 

 12"' 45'", and the apparent paths of seven meteors of first and second mag- 

 nitudes, all of them meteors of the April shower, were drawn upon a map 

 by Mr. Greg. The backward prolongation of their tracks, which were 

 generally not far from the radiant-point, presented a very definite area of 

 intersections 3° or 4° in width, at about B. A. 268°, N. Decl. 25°, in Cerberus. 

 Their courses were generally short ; and the following is Mr. Greg's description 

 of their appearance : — " Owing to the moon being so bright the tracks were 

 rendered rather shorter and the trains less visible than they woidd otherwise 

 have been, besides causing me, no doubt, to miss seeing a number of others. 

 Certainly there was distinctly a sliower going on which was not visible on 

 the evenings of the 12th, 13th, and 14th. Five only of the seven were very 

 white ; their average brightness was that of a first- or second-magnitude star, 

 and owing to the shortness of their apparent paths their duration was under, 

 if any thing, half a second. The radiants QHj [of meteors on the 12th-13th, 

 in Cerberus] and QH, [of the Lyraids on the 19th-20th of April] appear to 

 me to be simply one and the same shower, with a slight difterence in the 

 dates and in the positions of the radiant-points." The sky was quite over- 

 cast at Buntingford on the night of April 20th. 



At Mr. Crumplen's station in London the sky was remarkably clear, but 



» Ectioi't for L~^GS. p. 402. 



1872. 1 



