328 



REPORT — 1875. 



of some of the adopted radiant-groups in the general list, and offer no new 

 appearances of probable connexion with cometary meteor-showers. 



As instances of close apparent connexion of meteor-showers with comets 

 which either have been or which yet remain to be verified by repeated obser- 

 vations, attention may be drawn to the comparative list of meteor-shower 

 and cometary radiant-points in the Table at p. 350 of the volume for 1874 

 of these Eeports, in which examples of correspondence in the principal cha- 

 racters of nodal or shower-dates and positions of the radiant-centres will be 

 found to be very numerous, and to be chiefly exemplified in the annexed 

 selected list of the most important cases (p. 229). 



The last Annual Report of the Council of the Eoyal Astronomical Society 

 (' Monthly Notices,' vol. xxxv. p. 243) contained some brief remarks on these 

 coincidences. It is pointed out that the earth's nearest approach to a comet's 

 orbit is sometimes (if the inclination of the comet's orbit is small) at a con- 

 siderable distance from the node, and in certain cases, as that of Lexell's 

 comet (1770 1), Clausen's comet (1743 1), the comets of 1833, 1702 II, 568 II, 

 the best agreements with known meteor-showers are found at the dates of 

 the earth's nearest appulse to their orbits rather than at those of its nodal 

 conjunctions with them. Another example of the same kind appears to be 

 that of Halley's comet, 1835 III, with a date of appulse May 4th, about 

 twelve days earlier than that of conjunction with the node, and with a radiant- 

 point at that place which does not differ greatly from that of a considerable 

 star-shower ob.served by Captain Tupman on the 2nd and 3rd of May, 1870, 

 and on the 29th of April, 1 871. In the place of the usual sign for the node, a 

 capital Greek Omega (erect or inverted) might be used to signify an " appulse," 

 or point of closest approach (which is generally near to one of the nodes) of a 

 comet's orbit to the earth's. In a later Table of this Eeport this sign is, for 



