stars seen by Mr. Ferguson, Assistant Astronomer, Professors Hall and Harkness, and Messrs. Springer, Eastman, Rogers and Harrison, on the night of Nov. 13-14th, 1863. The duration of flight was in each case estimated, the places of appearance and disappearance, and the apparent magnitude. The observations will be published in detail. The average of the estimates of duration is 0.37 sec. In this list there were

(2.) At Haverford College, Prof. Samuel J. Gummere, assisted by Prof. Clement L. Smith, Messrs. James A. Chase, Edward T. Brown, R. Barney Taber, Allen C. Thomas and R. Morris Gummere, saw 316 shooting stars between 10h 38m P. M. and 5h 16m A. M. of the same night. The distribution of the flights through the hours was as follows.

Nearly two hundred were located upon the chart, and the lines show a decided radiation from the sickle in Leo.

About seventy of them were among those seen at the Naval Observatory in Washington. The paths of more than fifty can probably be computed.

(3.) Mr. B. V. Marsh, at Germantown, watched from 1h to 5h 20m A. M. Mr. Philip H. Strubing assisted in keeping the record. Mr. Marsh saw

There were no clouds, but the air was hazy and stars near the horizon were invisible. The time lost in making the record was estimated at not less than 15 per cent. This gives 26 per hour for one observer.

About seven-eighths radiated from the sickle in Leo, or from near & Leonis. One or two left lasting trains, one being visible at least 45 seconds.

(4.) Mr. H. D. Vail, assisted by Mr. Wm. G. Rhoads and Mr. Thos. H. McCollin, observed at Philadelphia. They recorded 55 paths, 15 cr 20 of which appear to have been seen at Washington. Mr. C. J. Allen of

Philadelphia reports the apparent paths of six meteors of the first magnitude.

(5.) Mr. Benj. Hoopes, of Westchester, Pa., sends 56 observed paths, many of which were of meteors also seen in Washington.

(6.) At Easton, Pa., Messrs. E. Menline, Chas. Sitgreaves, and A. F. Beckdolt observed 27 paths.

(7.) To the North and East of these stations the clouds and rain prevented observation almost entirely. Rev. H. S. Osborn, at Belvidere, N. J., saw three. Homer G. Newton, M.D., and Mr. T. W. Twining, at Brooklyn, saw six. At New Haven, Prof. W. D. Whitney, A. W. Wright, Ph.D., J. W. Gibbs, and Mr. Hewitt, with a large party of students, were watching and saw only 32 from 94h P. M. to 14h A. M. The air was very hazy, and after half past one the sky was entirely covered. The paths traced after eleven o'clock indicate a radiation from Leo.

A party of six persons went from New Haven to Hartford, but we were able to see only imperfectly for two hours in the evening. Hon. J. H. Trumbull was watching with us. Sixteen meteors were seen between 9th and 111 P. M. Most of the time Polaris was scarcely visible through the haze. After half past eleven P. M., not a star was to be seen during the night.

Two only of these sixteen meteors were observed at New Haven. One at 9h 30m was first seen at an altitude of 57 English statute miles, and disappeared at an altitude of 49 miles. The length of path was 21 miles, and its estimated duration of flight three-fourths of a second. The other, at 9h 43m, appeared at an altitude of 65 miles, and disappeared at an altitude of 30 miles, its course being nearly vertical. The estimated duration of flight was 2 seconds. Neither of these could have belonged to the November group. The velocities are 28 and 18 miles per second respectively.

(8.) Capt. C. E. Dutton, at Norfolk, Va., began to observe at 3 A. M. of the same night, with an assistant. Both looked to the constellation Leo, and they saw during the first hour 36 meteors, most of them very small. The paths of all but four, if traced back, would pass through the region bounded by the sickle in Leo. During the next half hour they looked in opposite directions, and saw in that period 43 meteors.

(9.) J. H. Worrall, Ph.D., at West Chester, Pa., watched alone in the open air on the four mornings from Nov. 11th to Nov. 14th. The following are the numbers seen. On each morning, except the second, he watched two hours, on that morning an hour and a half.

On the first morning the sky within 25° or 30° of the horizon was obscured by the haze. The star & Ursa Minoris was clearly visible. On the second morning the sky was a little more obscured. The third morning the above named star was just discernible. The haze was not so thick on the fourth morning. On the morning of Nov. 15th it rained. (10.) Mr. Francis Bradley, of Chicago, Ill., says that "on the night of Nov. 12-13th it was cloudy until midnight, and our company of observers

dispersed. At 2 o'clock, A. M., Nov. 13th, I arose and found it partially clear, few or no stars being visible below an altitude of 30° or 40°. The rest of the sky was a little dim. Up to 3 o'clock I saw three flights, from 3 to 4 o'clock two, and from 4 to 5 o'clock only four. Among the whole only 3 or 4 were conformable. There was not apparently the usual number seen. Undoubtedly the haziness obscured some, as there were almost as many impressions of flights as I counted of meteors actually seen. There would seem to have been not the slightest indication of an approaching shower. The following three or four nights were cloudy and rainy."

(11.) Prof. O. N. Stoddard, of Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, aided by a number of members of the Senior Class, observed on the nights of Nov. 11th and Nov. 12th. The next night was cloudy. The following are the numbers seen:

10h to 11h 11h to 12h 12h to 1h 1h to 2h 2h to 3h

Of those seen the first night, 67 were conformable, or 64 per cent. On the second night 76 were conformable, or 59 per cent. There were seen in the N.E. 44, in the S.E. 41, in the S.W. 45, in the N.W. 70, and in the zenith 34. During the first night the southern part of the heavens was partially obscured several times for a few minutes by light fleecy clouds. The larger number seen the second night cannot however be entirely explained by the greater clearness of the atmosphere.

(12.) At St. Louis, a party under charge of Prof. Chauvenet succeeded in mapping 23 paths between half past eight and half past ten, P. M., Nov. 13th. The sky which had before been partially obscured then became entirely covered with clouds.

(13.) Mr. Robert Brown, Jr., of Cincinnati, Ohio, arranged for an extended series of observations and invited assistance from observers at other places. He proposed to watch for a certain number of hours on three consecutive nights, from Nov. 11th to Nov. 14th. Although the third night was cloudy at some stations, Mr. Brown reports very gratifying success. Observations were made at the following stations by parties under the direction of the professors named.

by Prof. O. N. Stoddard.

"Prof. Matthews and Messrs. Edwards and McKibben. "Prof. Evans.

"Profs. Woods, Burnham and Bradley.

"Profs. Wylie and Kirkwood.

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Prof. S. H. Thomson,

"Messrs. Robt. Brown, Jr. and C. G. Boemer.

(14.) The following observers have reported that they were prepared to watch on the night of Nov. 13th, either alone or with others; viz., Prof. J. D. Everett, Windsor, N. S., Mr. E. W. Morley, Andover, Mass., Mr. Horace Bumstead, Boston, Mr. F. W. Russell, Natick, Mass., Mr. Esty, Amherst, Mass., Mr. R. Norman Foster, Northampton, Mass., Mr. Hiram A. Cutting, Lunenberg., Vt., Mr. Searle, Newport, R. I., Rev. Wilder Smith, Berlin, Conn., Mr. G. W. Hough, at the Albany Observatory, Robert Van Arsdale, Esq., Newark, N. J., Mr. C. S. Woodward, Ypsilanti, Mich., Prof. James C. Watson, Ann Arbor, Mich., Mr. A. F. Bandelier, Jr., Highland, Ill., Mr. I. A. Lapham, Milwaukee, Wis.

It is probable that the denser portion of the November flock is of no great thickness, and that the earth passes through it in a few hours. If so, the display of meteors in great numbers could not be seen in the same year in all parts of the earth. Moreover, if the shower comes on successive years the region of maximum display should move each year a little more than six hours in longitude westward, since the annual period is between six and seven hours more than an even number of days. In 1832 there was a display in Europe; in 1833 one in America. Yet the same shower should evidently be visible through several hours (not less than six) in longitude.

According to the observations this year there appears to have been a decline of numbers towards morning. We should naturally expect an increase until daybreak, since their frequency it would seem should be proportional to the sine of the angle of elevation of the radiant. If the decrease is real and is due to a diminution of the numbers entering the atmosphere, we may conclude that the longitude of the maximum display is less than 5 hours west of Greenwich. Possibly the European observations this year will decide this point.

It is well worth observing whether there is a four years period for any single longitude, as might be expected from a ring of small thickness. If we are to have in 1866 a return of the display of 1833 there is some reason to suppose that it will be more remarkable in Europe than in America.

H. A. N.

Additional Communications.-After the foregoing abstract by Professor Newton was in type, full Reports were received from Prof. A. D. Bache, Superintendent of the Coast Survey, and from Prof. Hamilton L. Smith, of Kenyon College.

The Coast Survey observations were made on the 13th-14th, at a locality in Washington (lat. 38° 52' 58", long. 76° 59' 32"), by a corps under direction of Mr. Charles A. Schott, Assistant of Coast Survey, and composed of himself with Mr. L. F. Pourtales, Assistant Coast Survey, and Messrs. J. Main, A. Zumbrock, W. T. Bright, L. Karcher, J. Downes, and H. Main,-eight observers, and to each certain portion of the heavens two observers were generally assigned. Magnitudes were noted, and also the instants of flight to the nearest half second on a chronometer of known error and rate, and with a free command of the heavens down to 15° above the horizon, which was beclouded. The durations of flight were recorded in forty-nine instances. From 8 P. M., Nov. 13, to 2 A. M., Nov. 14, one hundred and seven flights were recorded and more than half of them mapped upon the star chart as follows:

AM. JOUR. SCI.-SECOND SERIES, VOL. XXXVII, No. 109.-JAN., 1864.

At 10m 511 after midnight, and also at 11m 304, large and splendid meteors, the first from 5° N.E. of Sirius and the second from 3° E. of the same, moved west 60°, in the first instance, and 50° in the next, both nearly parallel to the equator, and the last directly across Sirius.

The durations varied from 0.1 to 18.00, and they average 0.41 for the forty-nine estimated.

At Kenyon College the night of the 13th-14th was entirely obscured, and that of the 12th-13th partially. There were, however, in 331 minutes after 10h 20m P. M., one hundred and ninety-nine meteors seen, viz: N.E. 36, N.W. 35, S.E. 58, S. W. 17, N. 1, E. 7, Zenith 43, S. 2. On the night previous (11th-12th), in 210 minutes, from 11h 22m P. M., to about 2h 52m A. M., one hundred and eighty-five meteors were seen, viz: N.E. 50, N.W. 21, S.E. 68, S.W. 24, N. 3, E. 4, Zenith 15. The magnitudes were noted, and also the instants of flight, and, in numerous instances, the duration. The last varied from 08.25 to 18.50, but their average requires further inquiry and examination. Many of the flights are mapped on the chart, and these vary in arc from 2° to 25°. One of the longest lies in Perseus and remarkably exhibits a continuous curve, having its termination about at right angles to its beginning.

Both of these Reports will be treated more in detail hereafter, when the entire mass of returns shall have been collated and discussed. A. C. T.

VII. MISCELLANEOUS SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.

1. Expedition to the Desert of Sahara under Messrs. Martins and Escher von Linth.-Through the kindness of a friend we are enabled to give the following information relating to an expedition now in progress from Switzerland to the Sahara desert, under the direction of Messrs. Martins and Escher von Linth.

The expedition left Switzerland on the 11th of October last and reached Algiers on the 18th. From there, they went to Philippeville and Constantine, and thence started for Batna and Biskara, and were at the latter place on the 22d of November. They were to take camels at Biskara and journey for many days qver the desert. Their chief object is to ascertain whether the great desert was the former bed of an ancient sea.

On reaching the "Col de Spa," "a kind of embrazure in the last chain of mountains to the north of Biskara," they came at once in sight of the endless Sahara. The letter observes:

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"They also, like the French soldiers twenty years ago, and the Roman Legions seventeen centuries before, could not help crying, the sea, the sea,' transported as they were by the impression of the immensity of the tableaux. Another solemn moment of their journey was the passage of the 'cluse' of El Kantara, where, after a long walk in a most barren and desert country, they perceived also, on a sudden, the Oasis of Biskara delineating itself in the most delightful manner with its palm-trees loaded with their gilded fruits. The contrast between the icy solitude of St. Gothard and the lovely gardens of Lago Maggiore is certainly striking,