294 



SCIENCE. 



tufty balls, resembling cumulous clouds. These white 

 heads are invariably bent or turned, as if slightly doubled 



the spot The first sketch was made when the red spot's 

 following end was in transit ; the three others when the 



/Yo»2e* f* x/"*- 



under, toward the south, and are generally partially or 

 wholly imbedded in the inner edge of the south portion 

 of the equatorial band. These heads soon becone isola- 

 lated into a regular white spot, the train gradually fading 

 out. All the objects in the equatorial zone move with a 

 very great velocity in the direction of rotation, invariably 

 n a contrary direction to that pursued by the slowly 

 moving red spot, which is really the only object that has 

 a backward motion on the planet. Indeed it would not 

 be a bad comparison were we to compare the red spot 

 to a mighty city built on the shore ol a vast and swiftly 

 flowing river, which is constantly being filled with drift, 

 and an occasional glistening mass of ice, tearing ils way 

 past the city with a velocity of not less than six thousand 



Mr /S* /. 4 /6 "* 



Fig. 2. 



miles a day. In such a comparison the city would need 

 be as great in area as three-fourths that of our entire 

 earth, and the river fully sixteen thousand miles in 

 breadth! 



One of these swiftly moving bright spots was observed 

 on Nov. i8th (Fig. i). It had probably existed some 

 few days before that date, but bad weather had pre- 

 vented observations of the planet. 



As it passed very close to the red spot that object 

 afforded a capital means of illustrating its motion. 



On the 1 8th it was situated on a meridian with a part 

 of the red spot about yi its length preceding the follow- 

 ing end. 



ST<?r 22™* //^^n. 



Fig. 8. 



This spot was bright with the fainter train following 

 in its wake. On the 20th it was near the preceding end 

 of the red spot (Fig. 2), and had isolated itself more 

 from its train, being partially imbedded in the inner edge 

 of the south band. On the 22d it had left the red spot 

 far behind (Fig. 3), and was smaller and paler, appar- 

 ently the si/.'- of satellite I, then nearing transit. By the 

 23d it had advanced still further (Fig. 4), and was Hear- 

 ing the west limb when the red spot was central in transit. 

 It was smaller and appeared to vary in brightness. 



weather since the 23d has prevented any further 

 observations of this remarkable obji 



The pen and ink drawings show the rapid progress of 



jYov23 ref 4^S2f* 



Fig. 



spot was central. To save space the sketches only show 

 the great equatorial band and the red spot. 



E. E. Barnard. 



Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 29. 



THE NOVEMBER LEONIDS, 1880. 

 By Edwin F. Sawyer. 



In the years 1846-47 and 1849, at the November 11-15 

 epoch, meteors were recorded in considerable numbers, 

 doubtless representing the perihelion passage of a minor 

 cluster of meteors in the cometary-meteor orbit. Last 

 year, both in Europe and America, these meteors were 

 found to be unusually numerous from the 1 ith to the 15th 

 of November, and the earth probably encountered the 

 minor cluster of 1846 at its return to perihelion. 

 In anticipation that the shower would, this year, 

 at the nodal passage, be of some little intensity, 

 preparations were made for observing the same, but 

 owing to cloudy weather observations could only be 

 obtained on the nth and 12th; but the indica- 

 tions, at these early dates, were that a large number of 

 shooting stars would be recorded on the 1 3— 14th, and as 

 observed elsewhere such proved to be the case. At 

 Cambridgeport on the nth, during a two hours watch, 

 from I4h. 30m. to i6h. 30m., 14 meteors were recorded, 

 of which 6 were Leonids. On the 12th, during an hours 

 watch only, from i6j^h. to \"]%\\., in a sky more than 

 half overcast, 6 others were noted, equal to at least 15 

 Leonids per hour for one observer in a clear sky. At the 

 Haverford College Observatory, Penn., Mr. Isaac Sharpies, 

 assisted by three other observers, recorded 52 meteors in 

 about an hours watch on the 13th from 3h. 30m. to 4h. 

 20m., of which 28 were Leonids. Mr. Sharpies says, 

 that at the end of the watch, when the sky become over- 

 cast, meteors were falling at the rate of two a minute 

 and promised much. 



From W. F. Dunning, Esq., F. R. A. S., we learn that 

 the weather was generally unfavorable for observing 

 purposes in England at the November epoch, so that the 

 observations as recorded in this country have a special 

 value, being, so far as heard from, the only ones obtained 

 during the dates on which the Leonid shower is in play. 

 As in the year 1849, meteors were also numerous at this 

 epoch, we may expect a return of the Leonids as a minor 

 shower during the next two years. 

 Cambridgeport, Dec. 5, 1880. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



I Tin- Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed 

 by his correspomients. Xo notice is taken of anonymous communi- 

 cations. ] 



THE WHITE SPOT ON JUPITER. 

 To the Editor of Science.* 



The white spot seen passing the great red spot on 

 November 18, 20, etc., and situated on the inner edge of 

 the south equatorial band, was observed again on 

 December 2, the first night for observing since Novem- 

 ber 23. The white spot was in mid-transit some time 



