ASTRONOMY: C.P.OLIVIER 
49 
The longitudes of the nodes differ considerably. This is due to the 
fact that this element of a meteor's orbit depends merely upon the 
position of the earth in its orbit, and when the agreement of the other 
elements is satisfactory, considerable differences in the node mean Httle. 
It will be seen that the other elements agree very well indeed, remember- 
ing the liniit of accuracy possible in work on meteors, which is never 
comparable in this regard to results obtained with the telescope. 
The data on which final conclusions were based are rather extensive. 
For America we had about 1100 observations reported by five of our 
members during the interval these meteors were seen, and three English 
observers also published results about the time of maximum, which 
are available. Eight orbits were calculated from this material, a num- 
ber quite sufficient to illustrate the general agreement and order of 
accuracy of the work. Several others have since been computed. Of 
course in the final discussion all the data will be included and pubHshed 
in full detail. 
While the working up of the American observations and the con- 
clusions drawn from them are of course my own, yet I desire to make 
full acknowledgment to Messrs. Koep and Trudelle, through whose 
enthusiastic and excellent observing my part was made possible. Their 
work is of a high order, and it may be said that in 1916, from January 
to September, Mr. Koep sent in about 1800 observations and Mr. 
Trudelle about 1330. 
It is only just to say that Mr. W. F. Denning of Bristol, England, 
observed these meteors and later published his observations, saying 
that the meteors moved in orbits somewhat similar to that of Pons- 
Winnecke's comet and they might possibly be connected. He gave 
no elements nor did he state on what sort of investigations his inference 
was based. 
However, he published this before I sent my results to Harvard 
College Observatory, for publication in one of its Bulletins, but the 
journal containing Mr. Denning's results had not then arrived from 
England and I was ignorant of his conclusions. 
Finally the members of the National Academy of Sciences will be 
interested to learn that since the first grant from the J. Lawrence Smith 
Fund became available last year no less than 5000 observations of me- 
teors made by members of the American Meteor Society were sent 
in during 1915, and 7500 more were received up to October 1 of this 
year. 
