﻿Hubert 
  Anson 
  Newton. 
  361 
  

  

  puts 
  to 
  itself, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  love 
  of 
  abstract 
  truth 
  which 
  

   prompts 
  to 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  a 
  system 
  of 
  doctrine, 
  and 
  the 
  

   refined 
  taste 
  which 
  is 
  a 
  critic 
  of 
  methods 
  of 
  demonstration, 
  are 
  

   matters 
  of 
  slow 
  growth. 
  At 
  all 
  events, 
  when 
  Professor 
  

   Newton 
  was 
  entering 
  upon 
  his 
  professorship, 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  

   higher 
  geometry 
  was 
  less 
  consonant 
  with 
  the 
  spirit 
  of 
  the 
  age 
  

   in 
  this 
  country 
  than 
  the 
  pursuit 
  of 
  astronomical 
  knowledge, 
  

   and 
  the 
  latter 
  sphere 
  of 
  activity 
  soon 
  engrossed 
  his 
  best 
  efforts. 
  

  

  Yet 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  in 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  beaten 
  paths 
  of 
  astronomers 
  

   that 
  Professor 
  Newton 
  was 
  to 
  move. 
  It 
  was 
  rather 
  in 
  the 
  

   wilds 
  of 
  a 
  terra 
  incognita, 
  which 
  astronomers 
  had 
  hardly 
  

   troubled 
  themselves 
  to 
  claim 
  as 
  belonging 
  to 
  their 
  domain, 
  

   that 
  he 
  first 
  labored 
  to 
  establish 
  law 
  and 
  order. 
  It 
  was 
  doubt- 
  

   less 
  not 
  by 
  chance 
  that 
  he 
  turned 
  his 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  subject 
  

   of 
  shooting 
  stars. 
  The 
  interest 
  awakened 
  in 
  this 
  country 
  by 
  

   the 
  stupendous 
  spectacle 
  of 
  1833, 
  which 
  was 
  not 
  seen 
  in 
  

   Europe, 
  had 
  not 
  died 
  out, 
  as 
  is 
  abundantly 
  shown 
  by 
  inspec- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  indexes 
  of 
  this 
  Journal. 
  This 
  was 
  especially 
  true 
  

   at 
  New 
  Haven, 
  where 
  Mr. 
  Edward 
  C. 
  Herrick 
  was 
  distinguished 
  

   for 
  his 
  indefatigable 
  industry 
  both 
  in 
  personal 
  observation 
  and 
  

   in 
  the 
  search 
  for 
  records 
  of 
  former 
  showers. 
  A 
  rich 
  accumu- 
  

   lation 
  of 
  material 
  was 
  thus 
  awaiting 
  development. 
  In 
  1861. 
  

   the 
  Connecticut 
  Academy 
  of 
  Arts 
  and 
  Sciences 
  appointed 
  a 
  

   committee 
  " 
  to 
  communicate 
  with 
  observers 
  in 
  various 
  locali- 
  

   ties 
  for 
  combined 
  and 
  systematic 
  observations 
  upon 
  the 
  August 
  

   and 
  November 
  meteors." 
  In 
  this 
  committee 
  Professor 
  Newton 
  

   was 
  preeminently 
  active. 
  He 
  entered 
  zealously 
  upon 
  the 
  

   work 
  of 
  collecting 
  material 
  by 
  personal 
  observation 
  and 
  corre- 
  

   spondence 
  and 
  by 
  organizing 
  corps 
  of 
  observers 
  of 
  students 
  

   and 
  others, 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  set 
  himself 
  to 
  utilize 
  the 
  

   material 
  thus 
  obtained 
  by 
  the 
  most 
  careful 
  study. 
  The 
  value 
  

   of 
  the 
  observations 
  collected 
  was 
  greatly 
  increased 
  by 
  a 
  map 
  

   of 
  the 
  heavens 
  for 
  plotting 
  meteor-paths, 
  which 
  was 
  prepared 
  

   by 
  Professor 
  Newton 
  and 
  printed 
  at 
  the 
  expense 
  of 
  the 
  Con- 
  

   necticut 
  Academy 
  for 
  distribution 
  among 
  observers. 
  

  

  By 
  these 
  organized 
  efforts, 
  in 
  a 
  great 
  number 
  of 
  cases, 
  obser- 
  

   vations 
  were 
  obtained 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  meteor 
  as 
  seen 
  from 
  differ- 
  

   ent 
  places, 
  and 
  the 
  actual 
  path 
  in 
  the 
  atmosphere 
  was 
  computed 
  

   by 
  Professor 
  Newton. 
  In 
  a 
  paper 
  published 
  in 
  1865* 
  the 
  

   vertical 
  height 
  of 
  the 
  beginning 
  and 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  visible 
  part 
  

   of 
  the 
  path 
  is 
  given 
  for 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  hundred 
  meteors 
  

   observed 
  on 
  the 
  nights 
  of 
  August 
  10th 
  and 
  November 
  13th, 
  

   1863. 
  It 
  was 
  shown 
  that 
  the 
  average 
  height 
  of 
  the 
  November 
  

   meteors 
  is 
  fifteen 
  or 
  twenty 
  miles 
  higher 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  

   August 
  meteors, 
  the 
  former 
  beginning 
  in 
  the 
  mean 
  at 
  a 
  height 
  

   of 
  ninety-six 
  miles 
  and 
  ending 
  at 
  sixty-one, 
  the 
  latter 
  begin- 
  

   ning 
  at 
  seventy 
  and 
  ending 
  at 
  fifty-six. 
  

  

  * 
  This 
  Journal, 
  II, 
  vol 
  xl, 
  p. 
  250. 
  

  

  