from MdzaplL Mexico. 63 



Concerning- tlic evidencu of the iieiii'ness of the Bielids to the 

 eartli's snrfMCc, it has lon^- ago been shown, by Brandes and Ben- 

 zenbei'g, tliat ** their height varied from 40 to 90 miles while In- 

 minoiis," and that if they are not entii'ely disfrijiiited in the earth's 

 atmosphere they mnst fall to the surface. That they arc all tan- 

 gible bodies of greater or less size, is positively evidenced by their 

 luminosity. 



Of possible other fall of fragments of Biela's comet to the 

 earth, on Nov. 27th, 1885, I will quote, briefly a few obsei-vations 

 which bear upon this problem : 



M. de Ball, at Liege, saw "'one of the meteors niter its explo- 

 sion (sic.) leave a train which lasted 15 minutes." Ciel et Ten-e, 

 No. 21, Jan. 1, 1886, p. 491. 



Cai)t. U. Wilson-Barker notes, while on the S. S. Dacin, at 

 Suez, tluit "in one exceptional case the track (of a meteor) was 

 visible for eight minutes, and for a longer time with a glass." 

 Roy. Ast. Soc, Mon. Notices, Jan., 1886, \). 122. 



Prof. N. K. Leonard states that "Prof. Cowgill, who observed 

 at Manhattan, Kansas, saw a meteor delow the clouch (the sky 

 being completely clouded over) at 12h. 50m. and during the few 

 hours following, thirteen others wei'e seen in like manner." Si- 

 dereal Messenger, Feb., 1886, p. 58. 



Tliis latter observation and that of Pjof. Leonard, at Iowa 

 City, Iowa, are the nearest records that I have been able to find 

 that sei've to corroboi'ate the observations at Zacatecas. Es])e- 

 cialiy does the testimony of Prof. Cowgill bear npon the remark 

 of Prof. Harnard (Sid. Mess., March, 1886, p 78), that "pi-oba- 

 bly the larger parlide.^ of this meteoi'ic swarm lie on the out- 

 side." That the shower was intermittent is evidenced by the 

 record, viz. : 



Prof. Newton, at Yale, and Prof. Young, at Princeton, agree 

 in a diminished shower at 8 P.M. (local time), while "Prof. 

 Leonard, at Iowa City, made the following counts : From 8h. 

 36m. to 8h. 51m. (local time), 100 meteors, or over 6 per minute- 

 Fi-om 9h. 10m. to 9h. 30m., 100 meteors, or 5 per minute. From 

 lOh. 2m. to lOh. 20m., 50 meteors, oi" less than 3 per minute." 

 Sid. Mess., Feb., 1886, p. 58. 



For "The story of Biela's Comet," in its entirety, I refer the 

 reader to the beautiful account by Prof. H. A. Newton, (in the 



