Klrkwood.] '^^^^ March 4, 1S70. 



England, 18G2, indicate also a more than ordinary number of meteors at the 

 December epoch in that year. 



1. A. C. 901. "The whole hemisphere was filled with those meteors 

 called falling stars, the ninth of Dhu'lhajja, (288tli year of the Hegira) 

 from midnight till morning, to the great surprise of the beholders, in 

 Egypt." — Modern part of the UniversalHisiory, 8vo. Vol. 2, p. 281. Lond. 

 1780. The date of this phenomenon corresponds to the December epoch, 



A. D. 901. 



2. 930. "Averse remarquable d'etoiles filantes en Chine." 



3. 1571. "Onvit a Zurich 'du feu tomberdu ciel' ". 



4. 1830, 1833, and 1836. The maximum seems to have occurred in 1833, 

 Avhen as many as ten meteors were seen simultaneously. ' ' Dans la imit du 

 11 an 12 decembre, on vit, a Panne une grande quantite d'etoiles filantes de 

 differentes grandeurs, qui se dirigeaient presque toutes avec une grande 

 Vitesse vers le SSE. A 10 heures et ^, entre les seules consteUations du 

 Belier et du Taureau, on en compta environ une dizaine." 



5. (DoubtfuL)1861, 1862, and 1863. Maximiuu probably in 1862. The me- 

 teors at this return were far from being comparable in numbers with the 

 ancient displays. The shower, however, was distinctly observed. R. P. 

 Grey, Esq., of Manchester, England, says the period for December 10th — 

 12th Avas, in 1862, "exceedingly well defined."* 



These dates indicate a period of about 29^ years. Thus : ' 



901 to 930 1 period of 29.000 years. 



930 to 1571 22 periods of 29.136 years. 



1571 to 1833 9 periods of 29.111 years. 



1833 to 1862 1 period of 29.000 years. ^ 



III. The Meteors op October 15th — 21 st. 

 The showers of the following years (see Quetelet's Catalogue) belong to 



this epoch : 



1. 288. " Apparition en Chine." 



2. 1436 and 1439. In each year a remarkable apparition was observed 

 in China. 



3. 1743. (Quoted from Herrick, in Silliman's Journal for April, 1841.) 

 "A clear night, great shooting of stars between 9 and 10 o'clock, all shot 

 from S. W. to N. E. [Qu. N. E. to S. W. ?] One like a comet in the 

 meridian very large, and like fire, with a long broad train 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." 



4. 1798. " Brandes marque, ^ Goettingue, un grand nombre d'etoiles 

 filantes dans les observations simultanees qu' il fait avec Benzenberg." 



These dates indicate a period of about 27^^ years : 



288 to 1439 42 periods of 27.405 years each, 



1439 to 1743 11 " 27,636 



1743 to 1798....... 2 " 27.500 



If these periods are correct, it is a remarkable coincidence that the aphe 

 lion distances of the metoric rings of April 18th — 20th, October 15th — 21st, 

 November 14th, and December 11th — 13th, as well as those of the comets 

 1863 1, and 1867 I, are all nearly equal to the mean distance of Uranus. 



*SiUi n r.iV- Journal for May, 1S63, p. 461. 



