290 Address of Sir William Thompson. 
years. The investigation showed further that the form of the 
orbit is a long ellipse, giving for the shortest distance from the 
able to identify the comet and the meteoric belt.* The same 
18 therefore, thoroughly established that Temple's Comet I, 
1866, consists of an elliptic train of minute planets, of which a 
few thousands or millions fall to the earth annually about the 
4th of November, when we cross their track. We have prob- 
having been correctly predicted by Prof. Newton), we have 
passed through a part of the belt greatly denser than the avel- 
age. ‘The densest part of the train, when near enough to us, 18 
while its “tail” is merely a portion of the less dense part of 
the train illuminated by sunlight, and visible or invisible to us 
* Signor Schiaparelli, Director of the Observator: 
. 
te culate jai 
e supposition of the orbit being a very elongated ellipse, agreed very f rei 
b. 
same r Schia relli gives elements of the orbit of the No 
of any known com On the 21st of January, 1867, M. 
accurate elements of the orbit of the N ovember meteors, and in the 
Nachrichten of J of Al i 
