﻿Hubert 
  Anson 
  Newton. 
  365 
  

  

  most 
  reliance 
  was 
  based 
  on 
  a 
  comparison 
  of 
  the 
  numbers 
  of 
  

   shooting 
  stars 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  different 
  hours 
  of 
  the 
  night. 
  It 
  is 
  

   evident 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  morning, 
  when 
  we 
  are 
  in 
  front 
  of 
  the 
  earth 
  

   in 
  its 
  motion 
  about 
  the 
  sun, 
  we 
  should 
  see 
  more 
  shooting 
  

   stars 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  evening, 
  when 
  we 
  are 
  behind 
  the 
  earth 
  ; 
  but 
  

   the 
  greater 
  the 
  velocity 
  of 
  the 
  meteoroids 
  compared 
  with 
  that 
  

   of 
  the 
  earth, 
  the 
  less 
  the 
  difference 
  would 
  be 
  in 
  the 
  numbers 
  

   of 
  evening 
  and 
  morning 
  stars.* 
  

  

  After 
  a 
  careful 
  discussion 
  of 
  the 
  evidence 
  Professor 
  Newton 
  

   reached 
  the 
  conclusion 
  that 
  " 
  we 
  must 
  regard 
  as 
  almost 
  certain 
  

   (on 
  the 
  hypothesis 
  of 
  an 
  equable 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  directions 
  

   of 
  absolute 
  motions), 
  that 
  the 
  mean 
  velocity 
  of 
  the 
  meteoroids 
  

   exceeds 
  considerably 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  earth 
  ; 
  that 
  the 
  orbits 
  are 
  not 
  

   approximately 
  circular, 
  but 
  resemble 
  more 
  the 
  orbits 
  of 
  

   comets." 
  

  

  This 
  last 
  sentence, 
  which 
  is 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  abstract 
  pub- 
  

   lished 
  in 
  this 
  Journal 
  in 
  1865, 
  and 
  is 
  a 
  little 
  more 
  definitely 
  

   and 
  positively 
  expressed 
  than 
  the 
  corresponding 
  passage 
  in 
  the 
  

   original 
  memoir, 
  indicating 
  apparently 
  that 
  the 
  author's 
  con- 
  

   viction 
  had 
  been 
  growing 
  more 
  positive 
  in 
  the 
  interval, 
  or 
  at 
  

   least 
  that 
  the 
  importance 
  of 
  the 
  conclusion 
  had 
  been 
  growing 
  

   upon 
  him, 
  embodies 
  what 
  is 
  perhaps 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  result 
  

   of 
  the 
  memoir, 
  and 
  derives 
  a 
  curious 
  significance 
  from 
  the 
  dis- 
  

   coveries 
  which 
  were 
  to 
  astonish 
  astronomers 
  in 
  the 
  imme- 
  

   diate 
  future. 
  

  

  The 
  return 
  of 
  the 
  November 
  or 
  Leonid 
  shower 
  in 
  1865, 
  and 
  

   especially 
  in 
  1866, 
  when 
  the 
  display 
  was 
  very 
  brilliant 
  in 
  

   Europe, 
  gave 
  an 
  immense 
  stimulus 
  to 
  meteoric 
  study, 
  and 
  an 
  

   especial 
  prominence 
  to 
  this 
  group 
  of 
  meteoroids. 
  " 
  Not 
  since 
  

   the 
  year 
  1759," 
  says 
  Schiaparelli, 
  " 
  when 
  the 
  predicted 
  return 
  

   of 
  a 
  comet 
  first 
  took 
  place, 
  had 
  the 
  verified 
  prediction 
  of 
  a 
  

   periodic 
  phenomenon 
  made 
  a 
  greater 
  impression 
  than 
  the 
  

   magnificent 
  spectacle 
  of 
  November, 
  1866. 
  The 
  study 
  of 
  cos- 
  

   mic 
  meteors 
  thereby 
  gained 
  the 
  dignity 
  of 
  a 
  science, 
  and 
  took 
  

   finally 
  an 
  honorable 
  place 
  among 
  the 
  other 
  branches 
  of 
  astron- 
  

   omy.'^ 
  Professor 
  J. 
  C. 
  Adams, 
  of 
  Cambridge, 
  England, 
  then 
  

   took 
  up 
  the 
  calculation 
  of 
  the 
  perturbations 
  determining 
  the 
  

   motion 
  of 
  the 
  node. 
  We 
  have 
  seen 
  that 
  Professor 
  Newton 
  

   had 
  shown 
  that 
  the 
  periodic 
  time 
  was 
  limited 
  to 
  five 
  sharply 
  

   determined 
  values, 
  each 
  of 
  which 
  with 
  the 
  other 
  data 
  would 
  

  

  * 
  It 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  out 
  of 
  place 
  to 
  notice 
  here 
  an 
  erratum 
  which 
  occurs 
  both 
  in 
  the 
  

   Memoirs 
  of 
  the 
  National 
  Academy 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  abstract 
  in 
  this 
  Journal, 
  and 
  which 
  

   the 
  writer 
  finds 
  marked 
  in 
  a 
  private 
  copy 
  of 
  Professor 
  Newton's. 
  In 
  the 
  table 
  

   on 
  pa?e 
  20 
  of 
  the 
  memoir 
  and 
  page 
  206 
  of 
  the 
  abstract, 
  the 
  column 
  of 
  numbers 
  

   under 
  the 
  head 
  ''hour 
  of 
  the 
  night" 
  should 
  be 
  inverted 
  There 
  is 
  another 
  dis- 
  

   placement 
  m 
  the 
  table 
  in 
  the 
  memoir, 
  which 
  is, 
  however, 
  corrected 
  in 
  the 
  

   abstract. 
  

  

  f 
  Schiaparelli, 
  Eutwurf 
  eiuer 
  astronomishen 
  Theorie 
  der 
  Sternschnuppen, 
  p. 
  55. 
  

  

  