448 Schmidt on the Lunar Grater " Linne." 



SCHMIDT ON THE LUNAR CRATER " LINNE," AND 

 ON THE NOVEMBER METEORS. 



The following is a translation of a letter from. Herr Julius 

 Schmidt, the Director of the Observatory at Athens, to 

 Mr. W. R. Birt, from whom we have received a copy of the 

 original : — 



" Eor some time past I find that a lunar crater situated in 

 the plain of the Mare Serenitatis has been invisible. It is the 

 crater which Madler named Linne, and is in the fourth 

 section of Lohrmann, under the sign A. I have known this 

 crater since 1841, and even at the full it has not been difficult 

 to see. In October and November, 1866, at its epoch of 

 maximum visibility, i.e., about the time of the rising of the sun 

 on its horizon, this deep crater, whose diameter is 5'6 English 

 miles, had completely disappeared, and in its place there was 

 only a little whitish luminous cloud. Be so kind as to make 

 some observations on this locality. 



cc At Athens, I observed the great meteor shower on the 

 night of the 13-14th November. On the nights of the 12th 

 and 14th, the sky being partially clear, the hourly number of 

 meteors was very small. On the night of 13-14th the sky was 

 perfectly clear, and we found the meteors very scarce between 

 6 and 12 o'clock; but later the hourly number became enor- 

 mous, and the spectacle was very brilliant and magnificent by 

 reason of the great number of bolides. From observations 

 made between 6 and 14 hours, and from 16 to 18 hours, and 

 from an approximate calculation, I found the maximum, on 

 November 13th, I4h. 15m., Athens mean time, and the number 

 per hour for one observer = 1055. Almost all the meteors 

 — that is to say, 343 out of 345 — came from a radiant point in 

 the vicinity of y Leonis." 



This letter has been communicated to the Lunar and 

 Luminous Meteor Committees of the British Association. 



