On the Meteors of 13th November, 1883. 349 
must have lain in the spaces behind it,—unless the meteoric revolu- 
tion was retrograde, or opposite to the earth’s: in that case the relative 
velocity of the meteors—being compounded of the earth’s motion, 
the meteors’ proper motion and the motion generated by terrestrial 
gravitation—could not be less than about forty five miles a second ; 
which is a velocity certainly greater than the meteors did exhibit. 
The orbit was therefore interior to the orbit of the earth. ‘The de- 
termination of the meteors’ velocity which has been attempted is not 
however sufficiently precise to guide us in the enquiry whether the 
revolution in this interior orbit must be supposed to have been direct, 
or to have been retrograde. 
Fifth.—Hitherto we have reasoned from the know laws alone of 
the solar system; but the idea now forces itself upon every read- 
er, that if these bodies had an orbit, they had also a period ; and 
ought again to encounter the earth, at some future time, or even to 
have encountered it in times past, in the same partof its orbit—that 
is, at the same time of the year. When, therefore, the startling con- 
firmation of our theory springs up before us, that both the meteors of 
1799, seen by Humboldt at Cumana, and by Ellicott in the vicin- 
ity of the United States, and those of 1832, seen at Mocha and 
in Switzerland, and on the Atlantic, appeared at the same annual 
period with those of 1833—that is, the 12th and the 13th of No- 
vember, we begin to feel as if further doubt is irrational :—But there 
is a condition which must be attended to, and which will be stated, 
after giving certain observations upon the meteors of 1832, that 
have not been published heretofore, nor publicly known. 
In making enquiries on ship-board in the port of New York, the 
writer was so fortunate as to meet Capt. Briggs, of the ship Morrison, 
from China. After stating that, at Canton, the whole month of No- 
vember in 1833 was cloudless, both day and night; and that, from 
particular circumstances, it is certain that a flight of meteors could not 
have passed unnoticed, if such had occurred at that place, Capt. Briggs 
remarked that in Nov. 1832, being then first mate of the ship Pres- 
ident, he saw and minuted in the log book a remarkable flight of me- 
teors, which he describes as follows. 
By reference to the log book, the minute appears under date of 
Nov. 12th. nautical time.—Capt. Briggs, then first mate, held the 
watch on deck from 8 P. M. to 12 P. M., and again from 4 A. M. 
to8 A. M. The ship wasin lat. 43° N., lon. 40° W. During the 
whole watch, from 8 o’clock to 12, meteors larger than common shoot- 
