— 27 — 



M. Ranyard (M. Б. vol. 47, pp. 69—70) a taché de mettre 

 en évidence cette particularité remarquable de l'aire de radiation 

 qui se présentera probablement aussi dans d'autres courants, — ayant 

 lieu dans la partie de l'orbite cométaire avant le périhélie, — à la 

 suite d'un examen attentif de leurs radiations. M. Ranyard lui 

 même a observé le courant déjà après son maximum, vers le 9 

 heures; mais à l'aide de 40 ou 50 météores, dont les chemins il 

 a observés, il a pu tracer leurs directions sur la carte en faisant 

 une estimation mentale de la distance du radiant, moyennant les 

 longueurs des chemins et la vitesse, et l'idée lui vint que l'aire 

 de radiation était elliptique, avec le grand axe dirigé à peu près 

 du nord au sud, long de 12" à 15", le petit axe ayant 6'^ ou 8". 

 lais laissons parler M. Ranyard lui même: „I mentioned the ellip- 

 tic shape of the area I had observed to col. Tupman, and he 

 told me that in the chart of paths he had laid down the radiant 

 area was distinctly elliptical. But as I did not see any reason for 

 such an elliptic form of the area, I regarded the coincidence as 

 merely accidental, and thought that our results were probably not 

 founded on a suflicient number of observed tracks. When Col. 

 Tupman described his observations at the evening meeting of the 

 Society, he stated that the longer axis of the elliptic area ob- 

 served by him lay north and south. This struck me as an addi- 

 tional coincidence, for J felt sure that J had not mentioned to 

 him the direction of the axes of the elliptic erea observed by me; 

 but J did not think seriously of the matter till a few weeks af- 

 ter, when J saw a letter from Prof. Young in Nature of De- 

 cember 17, in which, after descibing his observations, he says that 

 „the radiant was not a point, but rather a region about 4" long 

 north and south, and V wide". I then wrote to ask Prof. Young 

 further about his observation, and he replied that the radiant re- 

 gion was „an oval area", perhaps a little larger than he had at 

 first estimated. 



Recently, during a visit to the observatory at №ce, M. Perro- 

 tin showed me a map on which he and his assistants had laid 

 down the courses of sixty or seventy meteors they had observed 

 on the night of November 27. I at once saw that the paths did 

 not radiate from a point, and without telling, I asked him to 

 draw a contour line round the area of radiation. Both he and 

 M. Thollon, who was present, drew elliptic curves with the lon- 

 ger axis north and south, or rather inclined 10° or 15" to the 

 west of the north point". 1. Ranyard continue: „Neither Mr. Nash 



