Shooting Stars of Nov. 14th, 1867. 237 
of heat, and from the experiments of Prof. William Thompson 
and others on the increase of pee experienced by a 
of Fahrenheit by = BP 
feet per second. Hence, a meteoroid moving through the air 
with a velocity of 230,000 feet feet per second will be exposed to 
a pe ok alia of more than rent Fahrenheit, a temper- 
where v is the velocity of the body in in 
“Tt is now known that the entire stream of November m 
teoroids follows Comet I of 1866, commonly called Tempel’s 
comet,f in its orbit. Through the ‘telescope this comet presents 
the appearance of a mass of vapor. Bodies possessing this 
appearance on the earth, such as steam, smoke, and clouds, 
are known to be composed of minute detached pattiales of 
dense matter, And no other known form of matter can pre- 
sent it, except an elastic gas. The comet in question cannot 
consist of an elastic gas, because there is no central nucleus of 
sufficient magnitude to prevent its instant expansion through 
space. From these considerations, I deem it probable that 
Comet I, 1866, is simply an agglomeration of Sn he just 
res enough to be visible in the solar rays, And since other 
copic comets present the same appearance, it is fuged id 
that encapes at comets in general are formed of such agglome- 
Prof Harkness from 21 paths observed at nin ae ob- 
tained for the place of the radiant R, A. 149°, Dec. + 
The determination of the mass of the meteors is ‘ail a dis- 
sideratum. Prof. Harkness gives an elaborate discussion of 
assump- 
tion is neces though known to be not strictly correct. It 
it tiduitied only becuse solemcb hike hitiart) filed to. fardiah 
any better ee 4 of estimating | the mass of meteors. 
eral] tants derived from the burning o 
in yy gem Hage m the Drummond light, and from the 
electric ligh 
a 
U.8N, at this observatory, on the Buh of Ja cent 1866. 
