﻿Hubert 
  Anson 
  Newton. 
  367 
  

  

  value, 
  was 
  strikingly 
  manifested, 
  attracting 
  at 
  once 
  the 
  notice 
  

   of 
  several 
  astronomers. 
  

  

  Other 
  relations 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  kind 
  have 
  been 
  discovered 
  later, 
  

   of 
  which 
  that 
  of 
  Biela's 
  comet 
  and 
  the 
  Andromeds 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  

   interesting, 
  as 
  we 
  have 
  seen 
  the 
  comet 
  breaking 
  up 
  under 
  the 
  

   influence 
  of 
  the 
  sun 
  ; 
  but 
  in 
  no 
  case 
  is 
  the 
  coincidence 
  so 
  strik- 
  

   ing 
  as 
  in 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Leonids, 
  since 
  in 
  no 
  other 
  case 
  is 
  the 
  orbit 
  

   of 
  the 
  meteoroids 
  completely 
  known, 
  independently 
  of 
  that 
  of 
  

   the 
  comet, 
  and 
  without 
  any 
  arbitrary 
  assumption 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  

   their 
  periodic 
  time. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  comet 
  of 
  1866 
  is 
  probably 
  not 
  the 
  only 
  one 
  belong- 
  

   ing 
  to 
  the 
  Leonid 
  stream 
  of 
  meteoroids. 
  Professor 
  Newton 
  

   has 
  remarked 
  that 
  the 
  Chinese 
  annals 
  mention 
  two 
  comets 
  

   which 
  passed 
  rapidly 
  in 
  succession 
  across 
  the 
  sky 
  in 
  1366, 
  a 
  few 
  

   days 
  after 
  the 
  passage 
  of 
  the 
  earth 
  through 
  the 
  node 
  of 
  the 
  

   Leonid 
  stream, 
  which 
  was 
  marked 
  in 
  Europe 
  by 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   most 
  remarkable 
  star-showers 
  on 
  record. 
  The 
  course 
  of 
  these 
  

   comets, 
  as 
  described 
  by 
  the 
  annalists, 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  line 
  of 
  the 
  

   Leonid 
  stream.* 
  

  

  This 
  identification 
  of 
  comets 
  with 
  meteors 
  or 
  shooting-stars 
  

   marks 
  an 
  epoch 
  in 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  latter. 
  Henceforth, 
  they 
  

   must 
  be 
  studied 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  comets. 
  It 
  was 
  presuma- 
  

   bly 
  this 
  discovery 
  which 
  led 
  Professor 
  Newton 
  to 
  those 
  statis- 
  

   tical 
  investigations 
  respecting 
  comets, 
  which 
  we 
  shall 
  presently 
  

   consider. 
  At 
  this 
  point, 
  however, 
  at 
  the 
  close 
  as 
  it 
  were 
  of 
  

   the 
  first 
  chapter 
  in 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  meteoric 
  science, 
  it 
  seems 
  

   not 
  unfitting 
  to 
  quote 
  the 
  words 
  of 
  an 
  eminent 
  foreign 
  astron- 
  

   omer, 
  written 
  about 
  this 
  time, 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  Professor 
  Newton's 
  

   contributions 
  to 
  this 
  subject. 
  In 
  an 
  elaborate 
  memoir 
  in 
  the 
  

   Comjptes 
  JRendas^ 
  M. 
  Faye 
  says, 
  with 
  reference 
  to 
  our 
  knowl- 
  

   edge 
  of 
  shooting-stars 
  and 
  their 
  orbits, 
  u 
  we 
  may 
  find 
  in 
  the 
  

   works 
  of 
  M. 
  Newton, 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  the 
  most 
  advanced 
  

   expression 
  of 
  the 
  state 
  of 
  science 
  on 
  this 
  subject, 
  and 
  even 
  the 
  

   germ, 
  I 
  think, 
  of 
  the 
  very 
  remarkable 
  ideas 
  brought 
  forward 
  in 
  

   these 
  last 
  days 
  by 
  M. 
  Schiaparelli 
  and 
  M. 
  Le 
  Verrier."f 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  fruit 
  of 
  Professor 
  Newton's 
  statistical 
  studies 
  on 
  

   comets 
  appeared 
  in 
  1878 
  in 
  a 
  paper 
  " 
  On 
  the 
  Origin 
  of 
  

   Comets." 
  In 
  this 
  paper 
  he 
  considers 
  the 
  distribution 
  in 
  the 
  

   solar 
  system 
  of 
  the 
  known 
  cometic 
  orbits, 
  and 
  compares 
  it 
  with 
  

   what 
  we 
  might 
  expect 
  on 
  either 
  of 
  two 
  hypotheses: 
  that 
  of 
  

   Kant, 
  that 
  the 
  comets 
  were 
  formed 
  in 
  the 
  evolution 
  of 
  the 
  

   solar 
  system 
  from 
  the 
  more 
  distant 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  solar 
  nebula; 
  

   and 
  that 
  of 
  Laplace, 
  that 
  the 
  comets 
  have 
  come 
  from 
  the 
  

   stellar 
  spaces 
  and 
  in 
  their 
  origin 
  had 
  no 
  relation 
  to 
  the 
  solar 
  

   system. 
  

  

  * 
  This 
  Journal 
  II, 
  xliii, 
  p. 
  298, 
  and 
  xlv, 
  p. 
  91, 
  or 
  Encycl. 
  Britann., 
  article 
  

   Meteor. 
  

  

  f 
  Comptes 
  Rendus, 
  T. 
  lxiv, 
  p. 
  551. 
  

  

  