rm summer evenings so favorable
to general contemplation of the Heavens. The phenomenon lasts till the
12th, and even beyond, but the maximum is on the 10th. When the sky is
very clear, and there is no moon, hundreds of shooting stars can be
counted on those three nights, sometimes thousands. They all seem to
come from the same quarter of the Heavens, which is called the
_radiant_, and is situated for the August swarm in the constellation of
Perseus, whence they have received the name of _Perseids_. Our
forefathers also called them the tears of St. Lawrence, because the
feast of that saint is on the same date. These shooting stars describe a
very elongated ellipse, and their orbit has been identified with that of
the Great Comet of 1862.

The shower of incandescent asteroids on November 14th is often much more
abundant than the preceding. In 1799, 1833, and 1866, the meteors were
so numerous that they were described as showers of rain, especially on
the first two dates. For several hours the sky was furrowed with falling
stars. An English mariner, Andrew Ellicot, who made the drawing we
reproduce (Fig. 55), described the phenomenon as stupendous and alarming
(November 12, 1799, 3 A.M.). The same occurred on November 13, 1833. The
meteors that scarred the Heavens on that night were reckoned at 240,000.
These shooting stars received the name of _Leonids_, because their
radiant is situated in the constellation of the Lion.

[Illustration: FIG. 55.--Shooting Stars of November 12, 1799.

_From a contemporary drawing._]

This swarm follows the same orbit as the comet of 1866, which travels as
far as Uranus, and comes back to the vicinity of the Sun every
thirty-three years. Hence we were entitled to expect another splendid
apparition in 1899, but the expectations of the astronomers were
disappointed. All the preparations for the appropriate reception of
these celestial visitors failed to bring about the desired result. The
notes made in observatories, or in balloons, admitted of the
registration of only a very small number of meteors. The maximum was
thirteen. During that night, some 200 shooting stars were counted. There
were more in 1900, 1901, and, above all, in 1902. This swarm has become
displaced.

The night of November 27th again is visited by a number of shooting
stars that are the disaggregated remains of the Comet of Biela. This
comet, discovered by Biela in 1827, accomplished its revolution in six
and a half