Star-Showers of Former Times. 351 



(5.) A. D. 558. " Some time after this, there was a great run- 

 ning of stars from evening until morning, so that every one was 

 greatly terrified, and exclaimed, — ' the stars are falling.' " 



'< Merit. 3s xq{)vov rivdc^ yiyovev d.(jriqav dgdfiog dcp tantgag swg ttqojI', 

 (xxTTs n'ipTag {)7i£gexTiXi\TTsa6at, v.ul liysiv, ort nlnrovoiv ol (xaiigsg.^^ — Geo. 

 Cedreni Compend. Historiarum ; Hist. Byz. Sc. Corp. toni. 7, p. 304. 



(6.) A. D, 585. " In the 8th moon, on the day Ou-chin [Sep- 

 tember 4 ?J there appeared many hundred shooting stars scatter- 

 ing themselves on all sides." 



"A la 8e lune, le jour Ou-chin, il parut plusieurs centaines d' 

 etoiles coulantes qui tomberent en se dispersant de tons cotes."— 

 Catalogue des Bolides et des Aerolithes observes a la Chine, etc. 

 tire des livres Chinois, par M. Ahel-Remusat : Jour, de Phys. 

 1819, t. 88, p. 356.* 



(7.) A. D. 611. A shower of shooting stars is referred to by 

 Sojuty, as having occurred this year. See No. (29.) 



(8.) A. D. 744 or 747. " And the stars came forth shooting 

 exceedingly." 



" And steorran foran swythe scotienda." — Chron. Saxonicum, 

 edit. Gibson, 4to. Oxon. 1692, p. 55. 



(9.) A. D. 750. "At that time happened a fearful sight and 

 a strange portent resulting from an appearance in the sky. It 

 began about candle-lighting and was visible during the whole 

 night, causing surprise and great fear in all the beholders. For 



* This Catalogue is derived chiefly from the compilation of a Chinese author, 

 Ma-tou-an-lin, who has given a chronological account of fire-balls, meteorites, 

 4cc. down to A. D. 1221. Abel-Remusat has generally omitted those cases where 

 the meteor did not explode, so that it is quite probable that the original list com- 

 prises several star-showers. Some of the following instances cited by Remusat, 

 may perhaps prove to be such showers, but they cannot be so considered without 

 further evidence. Some of them appear to be only single meteors which left 

 trains of sparks. 



687 B. C. En 6te, k la 4e lune, le jour Sin-mao (5e de la lune) les 6toi!es ne 

 paroissoient pas, quoique la nuit fftt claire, il tomba une etoile en forme de pluie. 



15 B. C. A la 2e lune, le jour Kouei-weli, apres minuit, il tomba une 6toilc en 

 forme de pluie. 



268 A. D. A la 7e lune, une 6toile tomba en pluie du cote de I'ouest. 



288 A. D. A la 8e lune, le jour Ji-tseu, nouvelle pluie d'etoiles. 



532 A. D. A la 7e lune, le jour Kia-tchin, une etoile tomba en pluie. 



837 A. D. A la 9e lune, le jour Ting-yeou il y eut une etoile de la grosseur 

 d'un boisseau, etc. Plusieurs centaines de petites Etoiles le suivoient. 



1002 A. D. A la 9e lune, le jour Phing-chin, il y eut une etoile qui sortit de 

 rOrient, etc. Plusieurs dixaines de petites etoiles la suivoient et tomberent avec 

 elle. 



