366 S/iooii?ig Stars of Deceitiher 7, 1838. 



nearly in the ecliptic. The grand display of April 20. 1803,* 

 agreed with all the November displays, in this, that it appeared 

 chiefly after midnight, but where the radiant then was, no man 

 can tell us. 



There are other seasons in the year at which meteors may possi- 

 bly be found unusually numerous : some of these are,— Oct. 8 — 15, 

 June 10—20, Jan. 2, Feb. 15, July 28, Sept. 11, Nov. 8. It is 

 not worth while here to give the details of the various accounts 

 from which these dates are taken. They are generally vague, 

 and mostly reported by those who had no just ideas concerning 

 the average number of meteors. Of this list, the two first appear 

 the most worthy of attention. Observations should however be 

 made at all these seasons, and indeed at all possible times ; for it 

 is alike important that we should ascertain those seasons in which 

 meteors are uncommonly rare, and those in which they are un- 

 commonly abundant.f 



In order to obtain all the data necessary for the formation of a 

 theory of shooting stars, we must have observations in various 

 places and at various times, which will show us nat only their 

 numbers and their apparent motions, but also their true velocities, 

 directions, and distances. This is a part of the subject which de- 

 mands vastly more labor and skill, than the other. It is far from 

 certain, that the results obtained by Benzenberg,| Brandes, Q,ue- 

 telet, and their associates, will apply with general accuracy to 

 parts of the year, or of the night, different from those in which they 

 were obtained, and it is therefore much to be desired, that similar 

 connected observations should be made in all regions of the earth, 



* Tliis shower ought to be re-discovered, and there can be little doubt that if 

 diligent observation should be made at tliis season of the year, in all quarters- of 

 the globe, some evidence of its return might be detected. 



t If any person who has the opportunity, will consult the Ephemerides Societatis - 

 Meteorologic(B Palatina, (5 tom. 4to. Manheim., 1785 ?) and publish anew all the 

 observations on luminous meteors contained in that valuable series, he will do 

 a service to science. The work is inaccessible here, and seems to be nearly forgot- 

 ten every where. 



X This gentleman, a Professor at Dusseldorf on the Rhine, divides with Prof. 

 Brandes of Leipsic, (who died in May, 1834,) the honor of having first made (viz. 

 in Dec. 1798) definite observations on the distances, velocities and paths of shoot- 

 ing stars. The 1st livr. of the 3d series of Q,uetelet's Corresp. Math, et Phys. 8vo, 

 Bruxelles, Aout, 1837, (the only one I have seen,) contains a very interesting letter 

 on this subject from Benzenberg ; and also a valuable paper by Q,uetelet, giving 

 the details of the simultaneous observations made by himself and his associates, 

 on five nights, between 9 and 12, P. M., in June and July, 1824, together with 

 three methods of calculation applicable to these observations. 



