METEORS AND METEOR SYSTEMS. 
29 
but nothing was seen on the predicted nights, indeed signal 
failure everywhere attended the observers. At Bristol, on the 
27th, the sky was clear at intervals, and a carefully directed 
watch was instituted at several periods of the night, but no 
meteors were traced in the bright moonlight. The sky was 
cloudy on the 26th and 28th, when possibly there may have 
occurred some revival of the shower, or it may have taken 
place in the day-time, but it is certain that nothing of it was 
seen in England. Reports from foreign observatories* may 
perhaps be more favourable, but in the moonlit sky at the end 
of November observers had a poor prospect of seeing many 
meteors, unless indeed a very conspicuous display occurred. 
Thus the shower of meteors appears, like its derivative comet, 
to have eluded the search of astronomers ; and in the event of 
its non- recovery in future years it will be conjectured that 
the stream has been deflected a way from the neighbourhood of 
the Earth’s orbit under the influence of planetary perturbations. 
Apart from the Leonids and Andromedes of November, there 
are many other systems presented during that month ; of these 
the Taurids and a bordering shower in Musca supply the 
chief examples, and they have afforded an abundant supply of 
meteors during the past month. Mr. Corder says : ‘ Several 
clear nights in the first half of November allowed of good 
watches for the Taurids, but the number seen was not large 
considering the length of the observations. There are some 
slow meteor-radiants near to this main stream which may possibly 
be connected, but of the true Taurids fifty-three were seen, 
and a total of eighty-five when the branch radiants are included. 
Of this number six were first mags., and they were curious, 
for they left very narrow red streaks, which is not usual with 
slow trained meteors. They did not appear like the gaseous 
streaks of the Leonids, but were extremely faint as if only from 
red-hot ash. The colour of the largest ones was greenish yellow ; 
many of the small ones were reddish. Radiant point at 
58° + 21°, and others in Musca, the chief, at 47° + 23V These 
observations were fully corroborated at Bristol on the nights of 
November 12-14, when two very active showers were seen from 
the points 60° + 21° and 46° + 21°, and there were a large 
number of minor showers in play at the same epoch. Observers 
should watch for the annual returns of these numerous Taurids 
and for the other co-operative displays of the season. The 
Leonids and Andromedes must be diligently looked for every 
year, so that we may learn more of their history and store up the 
materials for future discussion and investigation. 
* Mr. Sawyer writes from Cambridgeport, Mass., that he obtained fre- 
quent observations between Nov. 23-30 and Dec. 1-5, but there was no sign 
of the expected meteors. 
