352 REPORT— 1873. 



shooting-stars in subsequent meteor-showers has in the mean time been col- 

 lected, of which (for the same reason) it is only possible to offer in this Eeport 

 the materials for such a future computation of their comparative results. The 

 following list contains the particulars of a great many such observations, of 

 which the Committee are obliged for the pi'esent to leave the calculation to 

 a more convenient opportunity ; and a few results obtained by a rapid gra- 

 phical projection of the paths of a few conspicuous meteors of the list at 

 the moment when the observations were received, are all the results of their 

 final comparison together which the Committee are now able to present. 



Two bright meteors were seen, one at Glasgow and one in South Wales, 

 on the night of the 9th of October last ; and again two separate meteors, no 

 less bright, at Glasgow and its neighbourhood, and at Bristol and Portsmouth 

 on the night of the 3rd of November, 1872. Of the latter two meteors only, 

 duplicate observations were received ; and the observations on this night ap- 

 pear to indicate an extraordinary frequency of bright meteors. Thus at 

 Milngavie, near Glasgow, " On Sunday evening (November 3rd) a shower of 

 exceedingly brilliant meteors was observed falling ; one of these was particu- 

 larly brilliant, &c." It appeared in the north, and left for a second or two 

 a line of light resembling the tail of a comet. The description of the meteor 

 is the same at Leshmahagow, where it is added that, after being observed, it 

 remained in one position and thereafter took an onward course with a rapid 

 flight westwards until it was exhausted. The pause in its flight and the ac- 

 companying tail of sparks are well described by Mr. M'Clure in the list 

 of duplicate observations. The daily newspapers at Glasgow describe it as 

 passing there from east to north-west or west, appearing as a large bluish 

 fireball with a long tail consisting of coruscations of red light. The Eev. 

 A. Johnson, of Cambuslang, near Glasgow, describes it as of yellow colour, 

 moving about 45° above the horizon from a little south of east to north of 

 west, throwing out a red tail and brilliant bluish and greenish sparks as it 

 seemed to curve downwards a little in the latter part of its course. The re- 

 maining description at Melrose of this meteor's appearance (see the list) is too 

 imperfect to afford, with Mr. M-Clure's account at Glasgow, a definite conclu- 

 sion of its height ; but the interrupted speed and curved course which seem 

 to have marked its motion there, probably signify that the meteor's flight, as 

 seen at Glasgow, was foreshortened near its radiant-point, and that this point 

 was accordingly near Perseus, Andi-omeda, and Auriga. This meteor detonated, 

 being seen and heard to explode at the same time in the north of Scotland. 

 Tt appeared at half-past five o'clock. The observed paths of the next large 

 meteor on the same evening at Portsmouth and Bristol at a quarter past nine 

 o'clock, proceeded from the same radiant-point, and, together with a few ob- 

 servations of bright shooting-stars on the same date observed elsewhere, mark 

 the neighbourhood of a point near (3 Pcrsei at about R. A. 45°, N. Decl. 35°, 

 as roughly representing a region of radiation of the bright meteors recorded 

 on this date. On the night of the 30th of October Mr. Backhouse noticed a 

 great many meteors at Sunderland, four of which had a radiant-point in Cas- 

 siopeia at 0°, 4- 55° ; eight or ten others diverged from near y, \ Ceti (at 

 about 40°, -t- 6°), and a few others apparently from near e Piscium (at about 

 14°, -\- 7°), all of their radiant-centres being in the neighbourhood of the above- 

 mentioned radiant-regions. Besides these. Captain Tupman observed a shower 

 of ten bright meteors in forty minutes on the night of November 1st, with 

 three others from the same direction in about the same time on the night of 

 November 3rd, having a definite radiant-point at 56°, -f-24°, close to the place 

 assigned to a similar meteor system as seen by Mr. Backhouse on the nights 



