OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 261 



of especial interest. A selection of the brightest and most important 

 examples of these new views of meteor systems obtained by Mr. Denning 

 dnring the past year is included in the third Appendix, following the 

 above notices of the greater annual showers, with extracts from his list of 

 the almost innumerable shower centres of which he succeeded in tracing 

 and recording the existence. From the meteor lists of foreign observers, 

 also, Mr. Denning deduced a vast number of meteor showers, and he has 

 published a list of them in conjunction with that of his own observations. 

 In these two parallel lists the agreements are often very satisfactory and 

 •close. Mr. Greg has prepared a valuable abstract of them, showing the 

 many points in which these new results confirm and verify the results of 

 older observations. A similar abstract by Mr. Greg of the extensive 

 shower-catalogue contained in the late Professor Heis' forty-three-year 

 summary of his meteor observations, which was published last year, 

 accompanies the former abstract ; and to these lists is added, in the same 

 part of this Report, the well-known catalogue of meteor showers deduced 

 by Professor Schiaparelli from Zezioli's observations of shooting- stars 

 at Bergamo in the years 1867-69, of which no perfect transcript has 

 hitherto appeared in these Reports. 



The fourth and last Appendix of the Report describes, as in former 

 years, the occurrences of stone-falls which have taken place, and the 

 results of researches on aerolites and meteoric irons which have been pub- 

 lished during the past year ; and it will be seen from its perusal that the 

 study of the nature of the substances, and of the circumstances of the falls 

 of aerolites, is being pursued with the same activity and success as has 

 oharacterised during the past year the observation of shooting-stars and 

 fireballs. 



It now begins to appear extremely probable, especially from the results 

 of Mr. Denning's recent observations and reductions, that the highest 

 attainable accuracy in mapping the observed directions of the apparent 

 paths of shooting-stars is the real key to the solution of the problem pre- 

 sented by their nightly flights. Numbers of co-existing radiant-points, 

 which would have escaped detection by less careful observations, are thus 

 shown to be capable of recognition, and of being disentangled from each 

 other with precision. The question of the possible connection of large 

 fireballs, and among them of aerolites, or large stony masses, with such 

 showers, and accordingly, it may be, in certain cases with comets, depends 

 also for its solution upon accurate observations of these meteors. In all 

 the aspects which they present in appearance or position, whether on a 

 large scale of grandeur, or as the smallest scintillations, these singular 

 bodies are certainly attractive objects for accurate investigation and de- 

 scription from the profound obscurity in which at present the whole of 

 the history of their origin appears to be involved. The Committee has 

 thought it desirable, from these considerations, to offer some suggestions 

 to observers, taking the form of general directions for recording exactly 

 any particulars of the occurrences of shooting-stars, fireballs, and 

 aerolites, of which circumstances may enable them to furnish perfectly 

 definite and reliable accounts. The different heads and paragraphs of 

 these directions are added in a convenient series of sections at the end of 

 the Report. 



