80 Scientific Intelligence. 



explosion was noticed wherein the main part of the leonid was 

 deflected to the southwest, and two zigzag lances of yellow flame 

 darted off to the northeast. 



The prevailing color was white. Some were tinged with yellow, 

 a few were bluish, and others had tintings of red both on the 

 head and edges of the wake of light. Most of the bodies showed 

 a brilliant white center with purplish borders. One very large 

 one resembled a six-inch globe of cankerous fire with spicules 

 of red and yellow radiating from all points on the surface. 



The path of light behind each body spread out in a feathery 

 fan shape, and explosions were evident in the train of light, for 

 the larger points would fly violently into a powdery haze, scintil- 

 late in a sort of luminous effervescence, and go out. 



The first appearance of a leonid coming toward you from the 

 southeast showed a reddish point of light which quickly merged 

 into a yellow hue mixed with blue, then flared into an incandescent 

 splendor. As the leonid approached, the point increased rapidly 

 in size, some to apparently six inches in diameter, then tapered 

 down to powdery sparks which invariably showed a violet cast 

 before disappearing. 



The sizes varied from mere beads of flaring white with thin 

 iris-colored threads behind, to globes half a foot in diameter with 

 explosive trains of variegated lights hundreds of yards in length. 



The life of some of the larger leonids was fully five seconds 

 from the time of the first point of light to the fading away of the 

 luminous dust into darkness. 



It would have been impossible to have counted the number, for 

 they rained down from all parts of the heavens at intervals of 

 about two minutes apart, and the descent continued until the 

 morning light obscured them. 



November 20, 1901. 



3. Leonids at Havre, Montana ; by C. W. Lij^g, Observer, 

 Weather Bureau. (Communicated.) — A beautiful display of 

 leonids, or shooting stars, was observed at this station this morning. 

 When I stepped out of the door at 7.30 a.m. (75th meridian time) 

 I looked up at the constellation Leo and saw four meteors in less 

 than that many seconds. After I had filed my morning report, I 

 met the night policeman, William Chestnut, who was waiting to 

 tell me about the unusual number of shooting stars he had seen 

 during the preceding hour. I explained to him what they were 

 and showed him the point from which they radiated. We 

 then watched these meteors for over half an hour and saw at 

 least a hundred of them. Some were of great brilliancy, some 

 were actually seen to radiate directly from the constellation Leo, 

 and all seemed to emerge from within the sickle in that constella- 

 tion. At intervals they came into the earth's atmosphere at the 

 rate of one a second for at least six seconds. As long as a star 

 could be seen in this constellation these shooting stars appeared 

 and continued until the great circle of illumination shut off all 

 further view of them. 



November 15, 1901. 



