J40 RESEARCHES CONCERNING THE PERIODICAL 



merely to draw the attention of astronomers to the subject. If they will mark the course of remarkable 

 meteors upon the fixed stars, and note the time, we can obtain the parallax of some identical one, and thus 

 ascertain its place in the regions of space. If observers at Dayton, Oxford, Lexington, Louisville, &,c., will 

 join me, I will devote the hours from 6 to 10, and, in some cases, from 8 to 11, to observations of this kind. 



"The following observations were made on the evening of the 8th: — 



"1. 97j. 2.5?n. 30s. A meteor passed from halfway between Alpha and Beta of Capricornus to Delta of 

 Sagittarius. 



"2. 9^. 30m. From Beta of Sagittarius to Alpha of Delphinus. The course of this was nearly upward. 



" 3. lOh. 18m. 34s. From one degree below Beta Aquarius to EpsUon of Sagittarius, nearly parallel to 

 the first. 



" 4. 10^. iOm. From Eta of Draco to Epsilon of Corona. This was a brilliant meteor, leaving a phos- 

 phorescent train after it for a few seconds. These observations were noted by Carey's nine-inch globe of 

 1816. I was surprised to discover that most of these meteors had such apparent motions as would be pro- 

 duced by bodies moving parallel to each other in straight lines. That is, they describe parts of great cir- 

 cles, which, if produced, would all meet and cut each other in two opposite points, like the meridians of a 

 globe cutting each other at the poles. They appeared to move from a point in the north-east above the 

 horizon to an opposite one in the south-west, below the horizon. By tracing the track of the above ob- 

 servations on the globe, the radiating point or pole was found near the star Algol, in the constellation Per- 

 seus, and the opposite, or convergent point, in the constellation Lupus. This was the course of most of 

 the meteors. Others again, as the 2d, had a course nearly at right angles to these. But I saw none which 

 was not referrible to one of these two courses. The poles did not appear to move with the earth, but they 

 retained their places amongst the fixed stars. Are these phenomena, as suggested by Professor Olmsted, 

 indeed celestial in their origin, and independent of the earth's rotation ? 



" Yours, &c. 



"JOHN LOCKE." 

 "METEORS, No. IL {Ibid., Aug. 12th.) 

 " Me. Editor, 



" Since the 8th I have continued my observations on the 9th and 10th. The results are as follow : — 

 ********** 



" On the 9th many other meteors were seen, but not noted. No common point of radiation or con- 

 vergence was ascertained. 



" Aug. 10. 1st Obs. 9h. 12m. A meteor passed above, and very near to Beta of Libra, and thence ob- 

 liquely downward, below and near to Gamma of the same. 



" 2d Obs. 9^. 14ot. 20s. From m of Antinous to Mu of Sagittarius, downward in the eastern edge of 

 the milky way. 



" 3d Obs. 9A. 18m. 29s. From Beta of Aquarius to Psi of Capricornus. 



" 4th Obs. 9h. 26m. From Zeta of Serpentarius to Sigma of the same. Course downwards along the 

 western edge of the milky way. The course of all these, as well as that of all others observed this even- 

 ing, was towards one common point in the constellation of Ara. This point was south about eighteen de- 

 grees west, and fifteen degrees below the horizon. " JOHN LOCKE." 



ERRATA. 



Page/202, Table IV., heading of the second and third coIumnB, for " Q " read " ( 

 Page 93, line 12th, for " August " read " September," 



