Star-Shoiaers of Former Times. 363 



(35.) A. D. 1743. October 4. " A clear Night, great Shooting 

 of Stars between 9 and 10 a Clock, all shot from S. W. to N. E. 

 [0,11. N. E. to S. W.] one like a comet in the Meridian very large, 

 and like Fire, with a long broad Train of Fire after it, which 

 lasted several minutes ; after that was a Train like a Row of thick 

 small Stars for twenty Minutes together, which dipt N." — Gen- 

 eral Chronological Hist, of the Air, Weather, ^c. [by Dr. Thos. 

 Short.] Lond. 1749. 8vo. Vol. II, p. 313. 



The dates of the catalogue thus far, are of the Julian style : 

 those which follow, are of the Gregorian.* 



(36.) A. D. 1799. November 12. A great shower of shooting 

 stars, seen chiefly between midnight and morning, in various parts 

 of Europe and America. The light of the moon (then at the full,) 

 greatly impaired the splendor of the display. — EllicoiVs Journal. 

 4to. 1814. p. 248. — Humboldt: Voyage, tom. 4. liv. 4. ch. 10, 

 8vo.— Gilbert's Ann. der Physik, Bd. 6 : 191, 12 : 217, 15 : 109. 



(37.) A. D. 1803. April 20. A great shower of shooting stars 

 after midnight, seen in the northern and middle portions of the 

 United States. Sky clear and moon only a few hours before the 

 change. — This Jour. Vol. 36, p. 358.f 



(38.) A. D. 1832. November 13. An extensive shower of 

 shooting stars seen between midnight and morning, in various 

 and widely distant parts of the globe. The moon (five days past 

 the full,) much diminished the brilliancy of the spectacle. — Bib. 

 Univ. de Geneve. 1832; t. 3 : 189. — Com,ptes Rend. vi. 562. 



(39.) A. D. 1833. November 13. A great shower of shooting 

 stars seen betv\^een midnight and morning in various parts of 



* In this catalogue I intend to confine myself to showers of shooting stars, and 

 omit many instances, occurring chiefly in August, in which meteors have been 

 seen in uncommon, but not very large numbers. Of these meteoric displays some 

 may perhaps merit a place in this list, e. g. those of Aug. 9, 1779, Aug. 9, 1798, Dec. 

 6, 1798, and Aug. 9, 1837. An extensive collection of these cases is given by M. 

 Q,uetelct in his Catalogue dcs Principales Jlpfaritions des Etoiles Filantes, (4to. 

 Bruxelles, 1839.) It may be well to restrict th« term meteoric shotver to those in- 

 stances where the meteors appear at a rate not less than 1000 per hour. 



t In E. H. Burritt's Geography of the Heavens, (12mo. 1838, p. 161,) it is said, 

 " a shower of stars exactly similar took place in Canada between the 3d and 4th of 

 July, 1814, and another at Montreal, in Nov. 1819." " Another was witnessed in 

 the autumn of 1SJ8, in the North Sea, &c." Probably neither of these occurrences 

 was a shower of shooting stars. On the 3d and 4th of July, 1814, there fell on the 

 river St. Lawrence, Canada, a quantity of dust or ashes, the air being very hazy 

 and smoky. — T'dloch's Phil. Mag. Lond. 44: 91. That of 1818, was doubtless a 

 display of the aurora borealis. 



