Miscellanies. 169 



clear sky, absence of moon, and observers enough to have scanned every 

 part of the heavens, it seems probable that meteors in considerable profu- 

 sion might have been counted. Of those seen, the greater part left visi- 

 ble trains behind them, and many of them were seen through a haze 

 which obscured all the smaller stars. As to a point of radiation : there 

 are some facts connected with these observations that may indicate such 

 a point; but they may, just as well, in our present state of knowledge, be 

 wholly disconnected with the phenomenon, and certainly can not now be 

 offered as proof on this point. The lines of flight of most of these mete- 

 ors, if extended back, would cross near the tail of Camelopardalis, and 

 this is the point, (55° R. A. 60° N. D.) which Mr. Schaeffer points out as 

 the centre of radiation of the August shower of 1837. As a coincidence, 

 this is perhaps worth mentioning, but certainly as nothing more at pres- 

 ent." No observations on the night of the 10th or 11th. 



4. At Hudson, Ohio, very good arrangements for observation Were in- 

 stituted by Professor Loomis, but they were almost entirely defeated by 

 clouds. The report which he has published in the Cleveland Observer of 

 Aug. 16, 1838, concludes thus : — " On the whole, then, although the 

 total number of meteors seen here was small, on account of the very unfa- 

 vorable state of the weather, the observations lend some support to the 

 theory that meteors are unusually numerous about the 9th or 10th of 

 August." No observations on the night of 10th or 11th. 



5. At Barren Hill, about 12 miles N. of Philadelphia, Pa. observa- 

 tions were made on the night of the 8th by Mr. Geo. C. Schaeffer, who 

 reports as follows : " The house from which I observed was in a valley, 

 over which the smoke from the fire in New Jersey spread a mist like a 

 curtain, which, illuminated by a full moon, formed a very unfavorable 

 medium through which to observe. My view was limited to a small por- 

 tion of the heavens, so that I could not have seen more than one fifth or 

 sixth of the entire number visible in a clear and moonless night. Between 

 llh. 30m. and 12h. 30m. I saw about 20. From various estimates, I 

 think they appeared [to a single observer] at the rate of 15 or 20 an hour. 

 I watched very closely for the radiant point, and found it near where I 

 placed it in August last, [see this Journal, Vol. 33, p. 134,] but, to my 

 very great surprise, there was a constant and regular progression of this 

 point. In this I am not mistaken, as I devoted my whole attention to 

 determine it. Between 11 and 12, it was about li° from £ Cassiopeise, 

 in a line from it to the North Polar Star ; it passed near the Star first 

 named, inclining downwards, and at 3h. it was 1^° or 2^ on the other 

 side of it." No observations on the night of 9th, 10th, or 1 1th. 



6. At Norfolk, Va. observations were made on the evening of the 10th, 

 by Messrs. /. D. Dana, H. Eld, Jr. and J. W. E. Reid. Mr. D. writes : 

 " Between 8h. 55m. and lOh. P. M. we observed thirtt/ six, which obvi- 

 ously far exceeds the usual number at that hour. They appeared to 



YoL. XXXV.— No. 1. 22 



