III. The Meteors of April 18th–26th.

The following dates of the April meteoric showers are extracted from Quetelet's table previously referred to:

1	A.D. 401,	April	9th.
2	538,	"	7th.
3	839,	"	17th.
4	927,	"	17th.
5	934,	"	18th.
6	1009,	"	16th.
7	1094,	"	10th.
8	1096,	"	10th.
9	1122,	"	11th.
10	1123,	"	11th.
11	1803,	"	20th.
12	1838,	"	20th.
13	1841,	"	19th.
14	1850,	"	11th–17th.

The display of 401 was witnessed in China, and is described as "very remarkable." That of 1803 was best observed in Virginia, and was at its maximum between one and three o'clock. The alarm of fire had called many of the inhabitants of Richmond from their houses, so that the phenomenon was generally witnessed. The meteors "seemed to fall from every point in the heavens, in such numbers as to resemble a shower of sky-rockets." Some were of extraordinary magnitude. "One in particular, appeared to fall from the zenith, of the apparent size of a ball 18 inches in diameter, that lighted the whole hemisphere for several seconds."

The probability that the meteoric falls about the 20th of April are derived from a ring which intersects the earth's orbit, was first suggested by Arago, in 1836. The preceding list indicates a forward motion of the node. The radiant, according to Mr. Greg, is about Corona. The number of meteors observed in 1838, 1841, and 1850, was not very extraordinary. Recent observations indicate April 9th–12th as another epoch. The radiant is in Virgo.