726 METEORIC STONES AND SHOOTING STABS. 



A star shower is chronicled in Germany as appearing J^^ovember 15th, 

 1606, seeming as if it rained stars, first the largest and brightest, and then 

 both large and small ones, becoming extinguished before reaching the 

 Earthf 



An early record was that of a meteoric storm A. D. 902. Later one of 

 November 9, 1698; ol November, 1833, and November 14, 1866. From 

 these data it was at once known that the period of the November shower 

 was thirty-three years. 



Other displays referred to the November shower were : 



October 29.5 A. D. 1366 



Novem'r 3 '• 1533 



" 8.6 " 1698 



11.6. " 1799 



12.7 " 1833 



Arago estimated that during three hours of the 12th of November, 1833, 

 there passed over 240,000 meteors. Many persons can now remember that 

 it was a very remarkable shower. So remarkable was it in its brilliancy 

 and number of stars, as to be a source of terror to many of the ignorant, 

 who imagined the final day of all things had arrived. 



It has been assumed by astronomers, based on observations made, that 

 seven and a half millions of meteors pass the Earth's atmosphere, and 

 bright enough to be seen by the naked eye, every twenty-four hours ; or, if 

 revealed by the telescope, would number four hundred millions. | 



METEORS OF NOVEMBHR 27. 



At Teneriffe, Canary Islands, on the 27th of November, 1872, five hun- 

 dred meteors were seen to fall in the space of half an hour. At 11:30 p. m., 

 November 29, the rooms of the American Consul, Mr. O. F. Dabney, were 

 suddenly illuminated by an intense blueish white light, lasting for several 

 seconds. It was apparently brighter than the moonlight, becoming red, 

 and then vanishing. About lour minutes after a report was heard similar 

 to that of a large piece of artillery, shaking the house and reverberating 

 for some seconds among the surrounding mountains. Persons saw this me- 

 teor as a luminous body of conical shape, going with great velocity, point 

 foremost, and drawing after it a long fiery train.* 



The above-named shower of the 27th, was also observed under very 

 favorable circumstances, by Padre Denza, at Moncalieri, Italy. It was ap- 

 parent from dusk until after midnight, during which time of six hours, 

 33,400 meteors were counted by four observers. But this really did not 

 include the total number passing, for in the first hour of the night, and 

 especially in the hour of the maximum fall, 8 o'clock, there was in some 

 regions of the heavens truly a rain of fire, so that it was impossible to count 

 Siuy but the most remarkable. Padre Denza speaks of this as a very won- 



t Ameiica-i Journal of Science, September, 1863. J Schellei in Half Hour Recreations. 



* AiU' ricm Journal of Science, August, 1873. 



