324 report— 1878. 



bright as 1st mag. stars. The largest were greenish, the larger 1st mag. 

 ones orange, and the lesser yellow, the remainder being white. After the 

 night of the 11th no farther view of the shower was obtained, the sky 

 being continually overcast. 



Observations at Bristol, by Mr. W. F. Denning. — The sky was overcast 

 on the nights of the 9th and 11th. The appearance of the shower on the 

 10th (as described in last year's Report) was somewhat notable, bnt not 

 above an average intensity of the Perse'id shower. On the 12th the 

 abundance of the meteors was much less than on the 10th, and did not 

 greatly exceed the rate of their appearance on the 7th. In long watches 

 on several of the nights of the shower's continuance, which, excepting 

 August 5th, were fairly favourable for observations, the following average 

 horary numbers of shooting-stars were seen, the average rate of appear- 

 ance of the unconformable meteors being, with little variation, during the 

 time, about fifteen per hour : — 



Date, 1877, August 3 4 5 7 10 12 



Average horary frequency 



of meteors 16 18 (11) 21 71 29 



Thirty-two Perse'ids and 159 unconformable meteors were seen on the 

 uights of August 3rd to 7th, showing the comparative scarcity (1 : 5) 

 of the meteors of the periodic shower, until very near the principal date 

 of its occurrence. Mr. Denning's observations during the last few annual 

 August showers have, in fact, established (as the results obtained in this 

 year's shower, to be described below, will presently disclose most 

 clearly) that reputed appearances of the Perse'ids before the 1st of August 

 are pretty certainly to be ascribed to some neighbouring showers in 

 Perseus, one at least of which is a very rich one, with a centre at 

 32° + 53° near 0, only 7° or 8° distant from that of the true Perse'ids near 

 V Persei. A star-shower of considerable intensity and restricted to a few 

 nights only in its total duration proceeded, in 1878, from this radiant- 

 point on the night of July 31st. Two other Perseus showers in July, 

 1877 (as was recorded last year in these Reports, for 1877, p. 159), were 

 also seen by Mr. Denning at 36° + 47°, and 47° +45°, with apparent re- 

 semblances in the positions of their radiant-points to the orbits of the 

 comets 770, 8, and 1764, ft. Further observations of the last of these 

 July showers near s Persei, were obtained in August and September, 

 1877 ; and during the long time of its visibility, apparently, in these 

 three months, its meteors, like those of the other circum- Perse'id showers 

 just mentioned, were certainly distinguishable by Mr. Denning from the 

 true Perse'ids of August 10th. Of these latter he noted 385, together 

 with 569 meteors unconformable to the true Perseus radiant-point, during 

 the interval from July 6th to August 23rd. 



Continuing his observations in September, Mr. Denning recorded in 

 July, August, and September, 1877, the paths of 1205 meteors, and 

 deduced from them eighty-nine radiant-point positions. Of these about 

 twenty (chiefly in July and August, between the 3rd or 6th and the 16th 

 or 17th days of those months) were duplicate determinations belonging, 

 apparently, to repetitions of a single shower. A radiant-point near o 

 Cassiopeias, two in Andromeda, two in Cygnus, and two others in Lacerta 

 and Aquarius (see the accompanying list), were of this description. One 

 of these, near a Cygni, at 315°+ 50° presents some resemblance in its posi- 

 tion to the orbit of Coggia's comet, 1874 III (radiant-point, July 21st, 



