106 REPORT— 1872. 



only three meteors radiating from near a Lyrte, and iu the neighbourhood of 

 that constellation, were observed in a watch of three quarters of an hour, at 

 about 11 o'clock on the evening of the 19th. The first of these was as bright 

 as a first-magnitude star, leaving a streak of light iipon its course which re- 

 mained visible for nearly a second. On the night of the 20th, soon after 

 10 o'clock, the sky was entirely overcast. 



At Bristol, on the 19th, few stars were visible between lO** and 11'', the 

 sky being very cloudy, excepting for a few minutes in the north-east, at about 

 eleven o'clock, when one conspicuous meteor and one small one only were 

 seen by Mr. Denning. The former rather bright meteor is described in the 

 above list. 



At Birmingham a hazy state of the sky also prevailed on the 19th, and 

 strong fuU-moon light on this and the following evenings only permitted a 

 single meteor to be seen. The scarcity of meteors on the latter night during 

 an hour's attentive watch was, however, fully confirmed by the other obser- 

 vations which will shortly be described. 



"Meteor shower of April 1872. 



"April 19th, from lO"" p.m. till ll"* p.m. Sky hazy; moonhght; no 

 meteors. 

 „ 20th; from 10" 20"" toll'' 20-" P.M. Sky clear; moonlight; one 



meteor. 

 „ 20th, 10" 59" P.M.; brighter than a Ist-mag. star; white; dura- 

 tion O'o second. From a Aurigae; path 10°, directed from 

 a Lyra;. Left no streak (a part only of the meteor's coui'se 

 seen, askance)." — W. H. Wood. 



On account of the overcast state of the sky no observations on these dates 

 were obtained at either Glasgow, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, or Sunderland. 



A list of six meteors seen at Wisbeach between 10" 45'" and 11" 30"' p.m. on 

 the 19th, with a tracing of their apparent courses on a map, was received 

 from Mr. S. H. Miller, with the following remarks on their appearance : — 

 " There was a remarkable accordance in their direction, and No. 6 seemed to 

 take the same path as No. 5. The brightness of the moon interfered with 

 the observations of their colour, and also of the length of their path, especially 

 as they were small, and their trains of light a thin streak. I did not see one 

 on the 20th, although I kept a persistent watch." In reply to a later in- 

 quiry on the latter point, Mr. Miller adds, " The sky was clear on the night 

 of the 20th, during the hour I watched, and had there been any meteors 

 then, I think I must have seen them; but after 11" 30"' it became cloudy, 

 and there was rain on the next morning early." 



On the night of the 19th, at Hawkhurst, the sky M'as very clear, the moon- 

 light bright, and a faint aurora was visible in the north. Between 11 o'clock 

 and 12" 15'", four observers counted 16 meteors, whose apparent courses were 

 more or less exactly recorded. Ten of these meteors were seen in the first, 

 and six in the last half of the watch, and nine were as bright as, or brighter 

 than, Ist-magnitude stars. Two of the brightest meteors mapped were also 

 simultaneously observed at York, and one of them diverging from Lyra was 

 at the same time recorded at Wisbeach. Nine of the sixteen meteor-tracks 

 were directed with no distinct centre of radiation from a space between 

 a Lyrse and Z Herculis, and the remaining meteor-tracks were nearly equally 

 distributed in their directions from the radiant-points AVG(?) in Cygnns, 

 Sj,5 iu Yirgo and Comse Berenices, Qj,, in Corona, and M, in Ursa Major. 



