398 Miscella7iies. 



done, the pecuniary embarrassment of the country came on ; and it 

 was deemed expedient to withhold all solicitation after about $1,700 

 had been pledged. William Machire, Esq. of Mexico, (to whose pa- 

 tronage the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia chiefly owe 

 their present prosperity,) with his usual liberality, gave the sum of 

 five hundred dollars to the library, free of all conditions. 



17. Meteoric Shower in April. — The fact that a meteoric shower 

 occurred about the last of April, 1803, seemed to furnish reason for 

 the expectation that an unusual display of meteors might, by proper 

 efforts, be detected at this season of the present year. According to 

 the best information obtainable, that shower occurred on the morn- 

 ing of the 20th of April, 1803. Arrangements were consequently 

 made for observations on the morning of April 20, 1838, at Porto 

 Rico, W. I. ; Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Knoxville, Tenn. ; Hudson, Ohio; 

 Bufl'alo, N. Y. ; New York City, and New Haven. From Porto Rico 

 no returns have been received. At Tuscaloosa, observations were 

 accidentally omitted. From Hudson, Ohio, Prof. Loomis reports 

 that the weather was unfavorable, but that between 3^^. and ^h. 

 A. M. it was clear in the east, and nothing unusual was seen. At 

 Buffalo, N. Y. observations were made on the morning of the 2lst, 

 by Mr. R. W. Haskins and Dr. C. H. Raymond. The sky was par- 

 tially cloudy, but clear enough to permit them to decide that nothing 

 uncommon was visible. The previous morning was overcast. At 

 New York City, Mr. G. C. 8chaeffer saw nothing unusual; but the 

 view was much interrupted by clouds. At this place, observations on 

 the mornings of the 20th and 21st detected nothing more than com- 

 mon. On the night of the 20th, at Knoxville, Tenn., Prof. Wright, 

 with an assistant, savv 154 meteors between 10 P. M. and 4 A. M. of 

 the 21st. This number is probably somewhat above the average, but 

 how much above, additional observations are needed to determine. 



The facts here recorded do not decide whether a meteoric shower 

 did or did not visit the earth on or about the 20th of April, 1838. In 

 a case of this nature, a negative cannot be established without a clear 

 sky and numerous observers encircling the whole globe. E. C. H. 



New Haven, Conn. 



18. Improvements in Magnetical Apparatus. — At the meeting of 

 the British Association, held in Bristol, in 1836, the Rev. W. Scoresby 

 made a communication to the Physical Section, on an improved mode 

 of construction in magnetic needles for compasses. &.c. by the combi- 

 nation in a parallel series, not in contact, of several thin plates of tem- 

 pered steel. A variation instrument, which he at that time exhibited, 



