Shooting Stars of August 9 and 10, 1840. 333 



of the distance from e to i Cassiopeias, or about 30*^ R. A., 63° or 

 64° N. Dec. A few meteors very near this point seemed to indi- 

 cate it pretty fairly. Of the small number of nonconforming 

 meteors that I saw, nearly all had one identical path, intersecting 

 the milky way at right angles about midway between Cassiopeia 

 and Deneb. Of the whole number visible I am quite certain 

 that I could not see more than one fifth part. I am confirmed in 

 my opinion by the fact that another person in directing attention 

 to the same quarter, detected in two or three minutes, several 

 more than I saw. 



" The evening of Monday, (10th,) with a still brighter moon, 

 showed only a few meteors ; but after the moon had set, a little 

 after 3 A. M. (11th,) I saw thirty five in as many minutes, a much 

 larger proportion being brilliant than on the morning previous. 

 The dawn again interfered. The radiant point had shifted from 

 last night's position, but I could not determine it exactly. On 

 both these mornings the Zodiacal Light was bright, and extend- 

 ed, as I thought, to a point between the Hyades and Pleiades. 



" Thus you will see that on the morning of the 10th August, 

 1840, meteors appeared at the rate of from 330 to 400 per hour, 

 and on the morning of the 11th, at the rate of at least 300 per 

 hour. This gives us a fair shower, and I trust it has been gener- 

 ally observed, I find on comparing this year's observations with 

 those I made two years ago, that we are at least approximating 

 to the place of the radiant." 



Philadelphia, Pa. '' The August period of the return of the 

 shower of meteors came round last evening, the 9th, this year 

 being leap year. Notwithstanding the brightness of the moon, 

 nearly full, the display began early in the evening, and continued 

 till late in the morning. Many of the meteors were as bright as 

 Yenus. They all moved, with few exceptions, in directions 

 which, being extended backward, would pass through the head 

 of Perseus, which continued for several hours to be the radiant 

 point. Some brilliant meteors were also seen on the evening of 

 the 8th inst. The circumstance of these meteors radiating from 

 the head of Perseus, was noticed on the 9th, 10th and 1 1th of 

 August, last year, at several observatories in Europe, where their 

 directions were measured with much care and precision, particu- 

 larly at Bessel's Observatory in Konigsberg." — Pkilad. Gazette, 

 August 10, 1840. 



Vol. XXXIX, No. 2.— July-September, 1840. 43 



