OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 397 



auroral light along the north horizon, extending from N.W. to N.E., apparently 

 equally extended on each side of the true meridian. The meteors were not 

 watched after 7^; but about 11'', on looking out again, I saw one, the only 

 one in several minutes in the S.W. ; but it had now no longer a vertical di- 

 rection, its course pointing now to the N.W." The endeavours of the Com- 

 mittee to consult an account of the same phenomenon by Mr. Maverly at 

 Gosport, if it was published as stated by Mr. Webb, have not hitherto been 

 attended with the success that will, perhaps, await the further continuation 

 of their search. 



An error of omission is also contained in the above-mentioned abstracts of 

 the Papers of d'Arrest and Galle ; as it is not observed that the latter as well 

 as the former astronomer pointed out the probable connexion of such meteoric 

 showers with Biela's comet. At the close of his note on the cometary cha- 

 racter of the April star-shower, Dr. Galle adds : — " Amongst other comets 

 yielding meteor-showers, if some overtake the earth they would appear more 

 deflected from their real orbits than meteor-streams arriving from the oppo- 

 site direction. As an example of this kind, I calculated the radiant-point of 

 the comet of Biela at its descending node, since the date of this (Nov. 28th) is 

 found to occur in a period of considerable frequency of meteors ; but I have 

 not found in all the observations to which I could refer that the date of 

 Nov. 28th is especially distinguished from other days near it ; and it appears 

 to be connected with the weeks immediately preceding and following it in 

 the prevalence of meteoric displays. The comet's direct motion makes the 

 date of its nodal passage less fixed and less certain, and the agreement with 

 observations accordingly less likely to be so perfect in the case of this comet 

 as in other cases. Yet renewed observations on. the night of the 27th of 

 November certainly deserve to be very carefully repeated." (Breslau, March 

 11th, 1867; 'AstronomischeNachrichten,' No. 1635.) D' Arrest's communi- 

 cation in the 'Astr. Nachr.' No. 1633, is dated Copenhagen, Feb. 25th, 1867. 

 The calculations showing the probable connexion of two comets (1861, I., and 

 Biela's comet) with the April and November to December star-showers by 

 Dr. Weiss, are contained in an earlier No. (1632) of the ' Astronomische Nach- 

 richten.' The latter memoir was extended and completed by Dr. Weiss in the 

 'Astronomische Nachrichten,' No. 1710, and in the valuable paper presented 

 to the Academy of Sciences at Vienna on the 16th of January, 1868, ' Beitrage 

 zur Kentniss der Sternschnuppen ' (see these Reports for 1869, p. 304). 



A short review of the above predictions was presented to the Royal Astro- 

 nomical Society (' Monthly Notices,' vol. xxxii. p. 355) during the summer 

 of last year in preparation for the expected approach of Biela's comet to the 

 neighbourhood of the earth's orbit in the latter months of the year ; and the 

 attention of astronomers appears to have been already drawn to the favour- 

 able prospect of a meteoric shower from the above-cited papers sufficiently 

 to make its character at once decided by the majority of the observers when 

 the abundant star-shower was observed. Prof. Klinkerfues at Gcittingen, 

 whose observations of the shower were most complete, immediately dispatched 

 an instruction by telegraph to Mr. N. Pogson, the astronomer at Madras, to 

 search the portions of the sky opposite to the radiant-point for any cometary 

 body which might be visible in the direction of the departing and retreating 

 meteor-group through which the earth had passed. Such a comet was found 

 by Mr. Pogson on the 2ud of December, about 13° from the place of the anti- 

 radiant-point, and close to the position pointed out by Di-. Klinkerfues. 

 Another observation of it was obtained on Dec. 3rd, and there is sufficient 

 resemblance in the observed track of the comet to that which meteors con- 



