OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 395 



only, but on the 21st it was generally overcast. In London, and at Bristol, 

 Street (near Bath), York, Sunderland, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, observa- 

 tions of some hours' duration on each night were made ; and a list of shooting- 

 stars was also recorded on the night of the 21st by Mr. Denning at Bristol. 

 The number of meteors from Lyra did not exceed that of the unconformable 

 meteors (amounting together to about eight per hour) on either of these 

 periodic nights ; but the proportion observable on the 19th was slightly higher 

 than on the other nights. A long-continued watch was kept by Mr. Lucas at 

 the Radcliffe Observatory at Oxford from 10 o'clock p.m. until half-past two, 

 and half-past one o'clock a.m. on the nights of the 19th and 20th of April 

 respectively, with similar results. The centre of the April meteor-stream 

 appears from these observations to have been crossed by the earth during the 

 daytime of April 20th, when daylight intervening between two slender indica- 

 tions of the shower must have caused the period of its greatest intensity to pass 

 unobserved. Four double observations of shooting-stars occurred among the 

 lists recorded on the first two nights, descriptions of which are contained in 

 the foregoing catalogue of such identifiable accordances. 



The Aur/ust Meteors in 1873. — The observations of this annual shower 

 were much incommoded by clouds, and the brightness of the full moonlight 

 concealed a large proportion of the meteors of the shower, which would 

 otherwise have been visible. On the night of the 10th the sky was every- 

 where completely overcast, and on that of the 11th so much so that a conti- 

 nuous record of the numbers seen could not be obtained at any of the ob- 

 servers' stations. The following are the numbers seen at Bristol by two 

 observers, looking towards the N.E. and N.W. quarters of the sky, during 

 successive quarters of an hour, ending on the night of the 9th of August at 



10*^30™, 45", W, 15™, 

 Nos. of meteors] 



seen in the N.W. \ 2 3 1 



(C. P. Denning) . J 



Nos. in the N.E. 1 q a i f^ 



(E. Barker).... J « 4 i o 



Total numbers seen 11 7 1 6 



On the night of the 11th Mr. Denning found them to be more frequent 

 than on the 9th, and the appearance of their display was that of an August 

 star-shower of somewhat considerable brightness. At the other stations it was 

 not found possible to count the meteors, as at Bristol, so as to trace the pro- 

 gress and apparent brightness of the shower on account of the frequent in- 

 terruptions from the general prevalence of cloudy skies ; but a continuous 

 watch kept at the Eadcliffe Observatory, Oxford, by Mr. Lucas, for about 

 four hours on the night of the 9th, and for an hour and a half on that of the 

 11th, corroborates Mr. Denning's observations. About 50 meteors were 

 mapped at all the stations in a total watch of about 7 hours on the 9th, and 

 about 30 meteor-paths in a total watch of about 3| hours on the 11th. Those 

 meteors of the collected list which were simultaneously observed at two or 

 more stations in the watch are described in the above catalogue of double 

 observations. The position of the radiant-point and other particulars of the 

 appearance of the shower will be examined for comparison with the observa- 

 tions of the previous year, when the necessary projections of the meteor- 

 tracks can be completed. 



