324 Meteoric Observations. 



to our atmosphere, comprehended under the general term of me- 

 teors. The appaUing spectacle of ^ falling stars, presented on the 

 morning of the 13th November, 1833, has confirmed this awak- 

 ening interest to the phenomena that are daily taking place in 

 bur atmosphere. This shower, for such it literally was, seems to 

 have been quite unparalleled, if we make allowance for the exag- 

 gerated accounts which we read in the poets, of marvels and 

 strange lights in the heavens. And what particularly needs no- 

 tice, is the vast extent of country to which this sight was offered, 

 suggesting the idea that the earth in its revolution, had encroached 

 upon a nest of meteors. I have never been able to fall in with 

 the opinion, that this shower has been repeated on the same 

 morning in succeeding years. I do not think that the appearances 

 noticed on those mornings were of an unusual character, and far 

 less that they can claim any comparison with the exhibition of 

 1833. The hypothesis more recently advanced, that there are 

 two or three favored seasons of the year, although better supported 

 by the fa(;ts than the other, I do not think can yet be maintained. 

 My own observations, and the facts mentioned by those who 

 have arrived at a different opinion, have led me to the conclusion, 

 that meteoric appearances are much more common every night 

 than has been imagined: that, independently of the clearness of 

 the atmosphere, no season of the year is especially provided : that 

 about the same average number can be seen every fair night : 

 that very few appear before midnight, and that much the largest 

 number is seen during the two hours before sunrise. 



Notwithstanding the zeal of observers in different places, many 

 more observations are still needed, made every night in the year, 

 and from midnight till morning, before any satisfactory result can 

 be reached. The labor of such observations is painful, and must 

 therefore be shared with many. I think, however, that a single 

 night's uninterrupted watch is worth far more than the same ex- 

 tent of observations distributed over several evenings, as it saves 

 the necessity of taking an average, which must always be uncer- 

 tain : for although, generally speaking, the meteofs fall much 

 more abundantly in the morning, from four till six, than at an 

 earlier hour ; still, the relative proportions for each hour are not 

 so accurately fixed, that we may conclude from a single hour's 

 observation, the number that has fallen during the night. With 

 these remarlcs, I give the result of some observations that were 



