328 report— 1878. 



"Radiant-point, very accurate, at 92° + 15° (fifty-seven meteors). 



" A subradiant-point, strongly suspected at 86° + 8° (seven meteors). 



"Of fifty-seven Orionids, forty-seven left streaks. Magnitudes, 

 3 = If., 3 — 1st mag. stars; the rest generally 3rd-4th mag. stars. 

 Observer, W. F. Denning." 



Besides the shower in Cancer, contemporaneous showers in Lynx, 

 and Ursa Major, with the Orionids, were found to be very active. 



With a small number seen on other days, Mr. Corder noted fifty-three 

 Orionids on the mornings of October 17th and 18th. On the latter morn- 

 ing their horary rate was fourteen for one observer. Few were observed 

 before midnight, and the shower seemed to slacken after 3 h 30 m a.m. ; 

 "while, on the other hand, a shower of slow-moving meteors from o Piscium, 

 which continued all night, was especially active towards morning, when 

 its radiant was in S.W. The horary number of meteors of all kinds 

 on the two mornings was about thirty for one observer. The radiant was 

 at 89° + 18° on the 17th, and at 95° + 17° on the 18th, showing appa- 

 rently a movement or displacement of some degrees. No meteors equal 

 to the 1st mag. stars were seen, but twenty-three Orionids left streaks; 

 they were white, their speed was great, and the streaks were rather per- 

 sistent. After the maximum of the Orionids had passed, one of the 

 Ursids occurred, but with a radiant so diffuse as not to admit of being 

 well determined. 



The following table briefly represents the number of hours of observa- 

 tion, a.m. and p.m., and the numbers of meteors seen, and of meteor- 

 showers recorded by Mr. Denning during the months of July-October 

 (until October 20th), 1877. The meteor-showers are extracted from 1113 

 registered meteor-tracks, and 385 Perse'ids, counted in August, are not 

 included amons; the total numbers seen : — 



J 6 



Month Hours, Meteors Hours, Meteors Total Tir ptf , Meteor Kecurring 



a.m. seen ' p.m. seen Hours Showers Showers 



July m 125 114; 72 23f, 197 22 ^ - 



August Hi 185 16J 200 27f 385 31 / 



September... 12 140 10 92 22 238 36 6 



Oct. (to 20th) 22} 338 21| 184 43£ 522 47 \ 20 



July-Oct.20. 58 794 59 548 117 1342 135 40 



During the last few nights of October, and on November 1st, a bright 

 and abundant shower of "Muscids," with an exact radiant-point near 

 t Arietis nearly agreeing in radiant-position Avith the " Muscids " of Sep- 

 tember 20th-November 17th, 1876, and with the maximum appearances of 

 that shower on October 15th, 1876, and October 8th, 1877, was observed, 

 furnishing many bright meteors ; and besides these notes of its marked 

 display by Mr. Denning, two small bolides, about as bright as Venus, 

 belonging apparently to the same shower, were seen at Birmingham, and 

 at Sunderland, on the evening of November 4th, 1877, by Mr. Wood and 

 Mr. Backhouse. 



Of the various Taurid showers in October and November, 1877, very 

 few and imperfect indications were observed, although the weather was 

 not always very favourable for their detection. At Writtle, the state of 

 the sky only perunitted shooting-stars to be recorded on three nights in 

 the first half of November, when Mr. Corder saw twenty-four, forty, 

 and forty-three meteors, " mostly Taurids and Ursids, the latter (as also 



