Shooting Stars of August 8th, 9th and 10th, 1842. 377 



Art, XL — Meteoric Observations, made at New Haven, Conn, 

 on the 8th, 9th, and 10th of August, 1842 ; communicated by 

 E. C. Herrick. 



With the assistance of Messrs. Francis Bradley, R. T. Gill, 

 E. Y. Gould, J. S. Hubbard, Porter Le Conte, and Wm. H. Way, 

 I made arrangements for observations on shooting stars, through- 

 out the entire nights of the 8th, 9th, and 10th of August, 1842. 

 Very much to our disappointment, these arrangements were almost 

 wholly frustrated by clouds ; although in a few clear intervals we 

 saw enough to satisfy ourselves that the meteoric sprinkling ex- 

 pected about that time, did not fail. 



Our observations were made from the summit of the Hospital. 

 Each night the corps of observers was on duty until 4 A. M. As 

 usual, a quarter of the heavens was assigned to a single observer ; 

 and the meteor was reckoned in that quarter in which it com- 

 menced its course. Due care was taken that no meteor should 

 be twice counted. The following are the notes of the observa- 

 tions. 



Aug. 8. Observations commenced at 9h. 50m. P. M. : between 

 this and lOh. the sky was tolerably clear, although hazy. Me- 

 teors seen, in 



N. 3, E. 2, S. 1, W. 3, =9 in ten minutes. 



From lOh. the sky was becoming more cloudy, and by lOh, 

 20m. was wholly overcast. Meteors seen, 



N. 4, E. 2, S. 3, W. 5, =14 in twenty minutes. 



The sky remained overcast until about 2h. 35m. A. M. (9th), ' 

 when it was mostly clear. From this time to 3h. meteors seen, 



N. 5, E. 14, S. 11, W. 8, =38 in twenty five minutes. 

 During this time the sky was estimated to be two-fifths clouded. 

 At 3h. 15m. the sky was entirely overcast, and remained so with 

 little alteration as late as 4h. Meteors seen, 



N. 6, E. 6, S. 9, W. 8, =29 in fifteen minutes. 



At 2h, 35m. through openings in the clouds, manifestations of 

 what was presumed to be the Zodiacal Light, were discernible 

 in the N. N. E., but nothing definite could be determined. Of 

 the meteors seen by us this night, the radiant point could not be 

 well settled, but we judged it to be somewhere near S Persei. 



Vol. xLiii, No. 2.— July-Sept. 1842. 48 



