seen when only 6" from the Sun's limb, being then 3" in diameter. Three bright patches on the limb were visible. The spot advanced and presented the best instance of Wilson's effect of foreshortening the penumbra at the sides, which Mr. Howlett had seen. A remarkable promontory and a luminous border soon became visible. The bright promontory soon became detached and floated away over the spot, as described by Mr. Brodie, in the Times. The spot increased in size as it progressed, and on October 13 had its greatest development, being then 110" in length and a mean width of 50", covering a superficial area of 1,200 millions of square miles. There were then some singular loops of matter, and several subordinate spots which trailed after the large one. On October 15, a remarkable luminous bridge was seen, but on the 16th, the strain on it became too great as it burst before next morning with indications of vorticose action. The spot was last seen on the 17th, but on October 20, there were bright masses of faculæ at the limb, where the spot would disappear. Professor Phillips had made similar observations on this spot. On November 3, the proper time for the re-appearance of the spot, by the Sun's rotation, a spot was seen but smaller, and although doubtless the same, it is rapidly closing up. Mr. Howlett considered that his observations were fatal to any theory that the spots consisted of a solid substance, offering an obstruction to the gush of luminous matter, which then escaped at the edges. He thought that solidification or crystallisation could not be admitted by those who looked much at the sun.

The President remarked that all were agreed as to the value of the continuous series of observations kept up by Mr. Howlett, but only those who attended the meetings had the advantage of seeing his beautiful drawings. As to theories, nothing hitherto propounded was worth much, each one being superseded by a successor. Our business at present was to multiply observations, however tedious, and some day a good result would follow. One thing seemed pretty clear, that there were successive layers of matter in the photosphere; and the cloudy stratum of Mr. Dawes, suggested to be below the penumbra, might be an upper one floating over the spot.

Mr. F. Brodie exhibited and described some large drawings of the same two spots. On October 11, there was a long promontory running down the side, and a detached mass 14,000 miles in length. The promontory drew off in one direction and the

detached mass in another, while at the bottom of the spot there was a misty cloud of luminous matter like our clouds. On one side there was a perfect representation of a mackerel sky formed by nodules of luminous matter. In an hour and and a half the detached point joined the spot, and ridges were formed. Next day (12th) the spot was much altered, and had increased in size, being double the length, and of a curious serpentine configuration, the whole of the umbra being covered with a misty stratus. Later in the month the luminous bridge entirely disappeared. The teeth at the edge of the spot also broke away, floated over the umbra, and became dissipated. Mr. Brodie, in conclusion, stated that he could find no trace of any entities supporting the willow leaf theory.

The President noticed that these observations confirmed the statements of other astronomers that the luminous matter disappeared in floating over the spot.

Mr. Pritchard communicated the substance of a letter from Mr. Alexander Herschel, announcing that an unusually fine display of meteors might be looked for on Sunday or Monday night (12th or 13th) from midnight to about 3 a.m., when the greatest number might be expected, and especially in the direction of the constellation Leo.

The meeting, which was very numerously attended, was then adjourned.

CORRESPONDENCE.

N.B. We do not hold ourselves answerable for any opinions expressed by our correspondents.

MR. LOWE'S COMETS OF AUGUST, 1865.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ASTRONOMICAL REGISTER. Sir,-Will you kindly allow me to ask Mr. Lowe how he arrived at the Right Ascension and Declination of the comets which he says he saw in August last. I ask him through the Astronomical Register in order that his reply may be through this periodical, and so may be useful to other tyros beside myself. I am very wishful, and I know others that are, to learn the process by which these facts are arrived at. Hoping you will allow him kindly to oblige me and others, I am, Sir, respectfully yours, JOHN JOHNSON.

Atherton Street, Manchester,

Nov. 15, 1865.

[A very reasonable and proper enquiry.-ED. A. R.]

BRILLIANT METEOR ON SEPTEMBER 26, 1865.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ASTRONOMICAL REGISTER.

Sir,-On the evening of Tuesday, September 26, at East Bourne, on the coast of Sussex, I witnessed a meteor of such unusual beauty that I have thought it worth while to send you a brief account of it, in the hopes that others besides myself may have seen it.

Time: Sept. 26; 9h. 19m. G.M.T. Path: in Boötes from R.A. 14h. 25m. Decl. + 28° to R.A. 14h. 20m. Decl. +15°. Duration of visibility: 3 to 4 seconds. Sky free from clouds, with a gentle easterly breeze. Luminosity: brighter than Jupiter under the most favourable circumstances.

When it first burst out it had no precise colour; perhaps it might have been called greyish-white. After about a second, it suddenly changed into a most intense and superb emerald green, the like of which I have rarely beheld. The splendour of the sight can hardly be described in words. In about a second and a half the grey hue gradually returned, and the apparition disappeared almost, but not quite, as suddenly as it appeared.-Your obedient Servant,

Lethen Grange, Sydenham:
Oct. 27, 1865.

GEORGE F. CHAMBERS.

BRILLIANT METEOR ON OCTOBER 16, 1865.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ASTRONOMICAL REGISTER. Sir,-It may perhaps interest some of your readers to know that, at about 10h. of the 16th ultimo (I failed to observe the precise time) a very bright meteor traversed the southern sky from east to west, at a moderate velocity, followed by a very distinct train of light which remained visible till the meteor disappeared. The path of the meteor was 70° or 80° in length from a point in Cetus or Pisces, not far from Aries, following nearly the line of the Equator, to a point not far from Altair.—I am, Sir, your obedient Servant, D. A. FREEMAN.

CURRENT PHYSICAL ASTRONOMY CRITICALLY EXAMINED AND CONFUTED. By James Reddie. London: Griffin.

THE_SIMPLICITY OF THE CREATION. By W. Adolph. London: Burns.

No system of science or philosophy has ever been free from the attacks upon it of those who disagree with what it teaches, and the science of astronomy has been bitterly assailed both before and since

the present system was adopted. Although it is not perhaps within the province of a journal such as the Register to give an opinion as to the correctness of the views or theories held by writers on the subject, it is perhaps allowable to remark that those who seriously attack a system so universally accepted as the present system of astronomy, ought to be well qualified for the task, both as astronomers, mathematicians, and practical observers, for it is upon the labours and convictions of men of all three classes that the present system is based, men whose names are honoured by the world, and whose lives have been conscientiously passed in the earnest endeavour to discover and explain the truths of science.

Mr. Reddie has collected together into a convenient form several papers which he has at various times written on the subject. He states that "no alteration is necessary, nor ever will be made in the text of these treatises." His object is to show that "the present astronomical theories have become involved in manifest contradictions." He denies the possibility of bodies moving in ellipses, if the centres of their orbits are in motion, and ridicules the notion of the solar movement in space, stating that it was that portion of his work (Victoria toto cœlo) which forced the Astronomer Royal to say that "the subject was in abeyance." He is unwilling to admit that the earth's orbit is a mere point with regard to the fixed stars, considering it more probable that the earth is central, with all the other celestial bodies revolving round it, and he holds to the opinion that the laws of the universe are chemical rather than mechanical.

In Mr. Adolph's work, of which this is a second and enlarged edition, the irregularity of the return of comets, calculated by astronomers, and the alteration in the distance of the sun, and in the velocity of light, are among the motives which cause him to disbelieve the present system. He attributes great influences to the appearances of comets, and is of opinion that the minds of Arago, Humboldt, Sir D. Brewster, Sir J. Herschel, and others, were more or less affected by these bodies. He denies the existence of the perturbations of Uranus, and considers the discovery of Neptune an accidental circumstance. Mr. Adolph quotes largely from a work entitled "Baby Worlds," by Von Gumpach, and also refers to the works of Lieut. Morrison (Zadkiel) as confirmatory of his views. Various particulars of his new solar system, in which the movements of the heavenly bodies are attributed to electricity, are given throughout the book. Mr. Adolph is a laborious writer but his astronomical deductions appear tinged with that peculiar anti-Copernicanism which formed for a long period a line of demarcation between mathematicians of all nations and creeds and the spiritual authorities of the Romish Church.

NOTES AND GLEANINGS.

THE LATE MR. W. C. BURDER.-A paragraph relating to this gentleman which has gone the round of the papers, contains an error which, in fairness to another hard working man, must be corrected. It is therein stated that Mr. Burder was the first discoverer of the great comet of 1861. Such was not the case. The first who saw this celebrated object was Mr. John Tebbutt, jun., of Windsor, New South Wales, whose first view of the comet preceded Mr. Burder's by nearly 7 weeks.

NEW PLANET.-Another small planet-No. 85 of the serieswas discovered by Dr. C. H. Peters, at Hamilton College, Ohio, U.S., on Sept. 19. It shines as a star of the 10th magnitude. In the American correspondence of the Times (Oct. 27), an announcement is made of there being yet another new planet, the discoverer of which was Mr. Watson of Ann Arbor observatory, Michigan; but a comparison of the recorded places shows that Mr. Watson's planet of Oct. 9 is identical with Dr. Peters's of Sept. 19.

APPEARANCE OF THE SUN FROM THE NORTH POLE.-To a person standing at the North Pole, the sun appears to sweep horizontally around the sky every twenty-four hours, without any perceptible variation during its circuit in its distance from the horizon. On the 21st of June it is 23° 38' above the horizon-a little more than onefourth of the distance to the zenith, the highest point that it ever reaches. From this altitude it slowly descends, its track being represented by a spiral or screw with a very fine thread; and in the course of three months it worms its way down to the horizon, which it reaches on the 23rd of September. On this day it slowly sweeps around the sky, with its face half hidden below the icy sea. It still continues to descend; and after it has entirely disappeared, it is still so near the horizon that it carries a bright twilight around the heavens in its daily circuit. As the sun sinks lower and lower, this twilight gradually grows fainter, till it fades away. On the 20th of December the sun is 23° 38' below the horizon, and this is the midnight of the dark winter of the pole. From this date the sun begins to ascend; and, after a time, his return is heralded by a faint dawn, which circles slowly around the horizon, completing its circuit every twenty-four hours. This dawn grows gradually brighter: and on the 20th of March the peaks of ice are gilded with the first level rays of the six months' day. The bringer of this long day continues to wind his spiral way upward, till he reaches his highest place on the 21st of June, and his annual course is completed. Such is one of the most wonderful of the wonderful works of God.-Scientific American.

BRILLIANT METEOR.-The following letter by Mr. De la Rue has appeared in the Times :—" While driving this evening (Nov. 21) from the Southall station of the Great Western Railway towards Cranford, at about five minutes past six, my attention was arrested by a brilliant meteor passing with a slow velocity from east to west vertically over my position, which I have ascertained to be 51 deg. 29 min. 40 sec. North latitude, and 1 min. 24 sec. West longitude. I When I first saw it, it was about 40 deg. above the eastern horizon, and disappeared in