480 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



more general assumptions, however, of the orbital velocities of me- 

 teorites, it follows that a more or less powerfully determined current 

 of falling stars must arrive upon the earth, owing to its planetary 

 motion, from a constantly prevailing direction ninety degrees in lon- 

 gitude behind the sun. 



On this account a season of frequency of aerolites, shooting-stars, 

 and bolides must be expected to succeed, in all latitudes, three 

 months later than the summer season of the sun ; but, on the other 

 hand, a dearth of meteors, in the spring, one quarter of a year later 

 than midwinter. In general, and in all latitudes, the meteoric sea- 

 sons, or seasons of meteoric frequency, must strictly follow the tropi- 

 cal seasons, and three months later in the year. Thus in the earth's 

 northern hemisphere the northern pole remains directed to the sun 

 from the equinox of March until that of September, and to the 

 course of meteors from the solstice of June to the solstice of De- 

 cember. The greatest frequency of the meteorites will fall about 

 the equinox of autumn, in September and October. This most 

 nearly agrees with European observations. The meteoric season of 

 Arago may, therefore, be drawn as a consequence from his pla- 

 netary hypothesis, if it be permitted to change the limits which he 

 assigns to it by a small quantity, namely, from the earth's apsides 

 to its solstices in its orbit. 



The same fact, which appears strongly marked with regard to 

 shooting-stars in the eight-year summary of Dr. Schmidt, is found 

 repeated in a striking manner in the existing Northern Catalogues 

 of Star-showers, Fire-balls, and A'eroliths. The following references 

 may be taken as examples : — 



Number, Number, 



Appearances. July to December. January to June. 



Star-showers, from 1800 b.c In M. 1 



Quetelet's Catalogue {Physique du\ 72 28 



Globe, 1861) J 



Aerolitic meteors, from the Christian 1 



era. In Mr. Greg's Catalogue I 216 186J 



(Brit. Assoc. Report, 1860) J 



Large and small fire-balls. In same) OAO _ co 



Catalogue (Ibid.) J 



The time appears therefore at length to have arrived when obser- 

 vations of meteors in the southern hemisphere may greatly contribute 

 to establish the planetary theory of meteorites. Should the same se- 

 quences of meteoric seasons, after the tropical seasons, be observed 

 in the southern hemisphere which are followed in the north, the 

 record of meteors in southern observatories will become at once a 

 confirmation of the planetary motion of the earth, and a proof of 

 the correctness of the existing theory of shooting-stars. A sufficient 

 number of data can only be collected in the course of time ; but the 

 observations of shooting-stars at Melbourne, in South Australia, 

 already preserved for some years, in great numbers, by Dr. Neu- 

 mayer, appear actually calculated to give to this question, before 

 long, a satisfactory solution. — From the Monthly Notices of the Royal 

 Astronomical Society, April 8, 1864. 



