The Journal of Education for Upper Canada

than usual into the path of these flying stones. The prediction was verified, and a magnificent spectacle seen by watchers in many parts of the country :

scored in all directions with their trains." Mr. J. R. Hind, at Bishop's Observatory, Twickenham, was assisted by a knot of other scientific men, M. Du Chaillu being one of the party. He says

The sky was unusually clear, and, till about an hour before mid- From midnight to 1 o'clock a. m., Greenwich time, 1,120 meteors night, it made no sign, and the eye turned in vain to the east, as were noted, the numbers gradually increasing. From 1 a. m. 1h. men look at a fortress that will not give the challenge. But when 7m. 5s. no less than 514 were counted, and we were conscious of the irregular circle of stars that had been indicated by former having missed very many, owing to the rapidity of their succession. observers had well cleared the horizon, and moved some points to At the latter moment there was a rather sudden increase to an the south, first one meteor then another shot across the sky in extent which rendered it impossible to count the number, but after various regions and with various directions, but plainly from that 1.20 a decline became perceptible. The maximum was judged to one quarter. The spectator had soon counted half-a-dozen : then have taken place about 1.10, and at this time the appearance of the he felt sure he had seen thirty then six or seven in a minute; then whole heavens was very beautiful, not to say magnificent. : Beyond they appeared faster than he could count them. Then there came their immeuse number, however, the meteors were not particularly two or three together; then not less than a dozen of all kinds. remarkable, either as regards brilliancy or the persistence of the Some shot across the heavens, leaving long, bright, and lingering trains, few of which were visible more than three seconds; indeed, trains, the star itself seeming to explode, and instantly disappear. M. Du Chaillu observed that in these respects the meteors fell far Some darted as quickly and as bright, but without trains. Some short of those of the April period, which he had witnessed under a struck the sight, like sparks from a forge, everywhere at once. fiue sky in equatorial Africa. From 1.52 to 2.9,300 were registered; Some seemed to fall, over trees or houses, bright to the last, but from 3.9 to 3.24, 100; from 4.42 to 5 the number seen was 12, and with the ruddy hues of a lower atmosphere. Look where we would these mostly faint; and from 5.45 to 6 only 5 were counted. it was the same; in the far west, and throughout the entire north, No person acquainted with the constellations who carefully there was either the bright glancing speck of light, or the long train, watched the display could have any doubt as to the accuracy of the or what seemed an actual ball of light, that illuminated the country, astronomical theory relative to these bodies. The radiant in Leo and was slow to die away. As the night advanced these meteors was most strikingly manifested; while the meteors in the opposite chased one another across the sky, following in one another's track, quarter of the sky traversed arcs of many degrees, in the vicinity of or running side by side. The heavens seemed alive with this un- the diverging point they shone out for a few seconds without apprewonted host. There were times when it seemed as if a mighty wind ciable motion, and might have been momentarily mistaken for stars had caught the old stars, loosed them from their holdings, and by any one to whom the configuration of the heavens in that direction swept them across the firmament. The Olympian himself might was not familiar. have been supposed on his throne launching his bolts against an offending or forgetful world. There he was all but visible, for at that one place there were meteors that appeared, only as spots to disappear, or to traverse only just as much space as would show motion. That, in fact, was the very pathway of all this artillery, which was thus foreshortened, like a column of soldiers, as seen by those that have to bear the brunt. In the course of two or three hours there must have been many thousands of these visitors, usually so rare. Even when the sky became partially overcast, they still showed themselves at every opening, and shone through the veil of clouds. Few indeed who saw it had ever seen the like, or could expect ever to see it. As to the sounds commonly heard on these occasions-the explosions, the hissings, and the rumblings-we cannot speak, for the wind was high, and it must be remembered that the stillness ascribed by poets to the night has utterly left this isle, for hardly is there a spot where it is not possible any hour of the night to hear several mail or luggage trains.

A reporter on Paddington-green counted 207 meteors between 12 and 12.30, and of these the greater number fell after 12.20. The next hundred was counted during the six minutes that succeeded the half hour. Soon after this it became impossible for two people to count the whole that were visible. The writer says

As the constellation Leo rose over the houses north of Paddington green and cleared itself of haze, the divergence of the meteor-paths from a point within it became obvious, not merely in the directions of the streams that shot from or through the zenith, but in those that left their phosphorescent seeming trails in the sky towards every point of the compass.

Sometimes these rocket-like lines of light would glide out like sparks flying from an incandescent mass of iron under the blows of a Titanic hammer, but with the distinctive features, first, of those lingering lines of illuminated haze in their track, and secondly, of their rarely appearing as if they originated in the region of the sky from which their courses evidently diverged.

Sometimes the meteor was orange and almost red in its colour, whereas the luminous trail seemed almost always, probably by contrast with the surrounding light, of a bluish hue. In one splendid instance the trail, after having nearly disappeared, together with the rocket-head that had produced it, became again lit up and visible coincidentally with a sort of resuscitation of brightness in the body of the meteor. Now and then a little illuminated puffball would appear in the middle of the constellation Leo, generally more or less elongated or elliptic in form, as it seemed to be more or less distant and at the same time convergent from an imaginary point that seemed about 3 degrees S. by E. of the star y Leonis; and one, as near as could be estimated to such a point, was simply a star that waxed, and waned, and disappeared as one looked at it.

Sometimes a minute point of light, like a firefly, would dart with an angular jerking motion, and zigzag course hither and thither, but still as if away from Leo.

Mr. G. J. Symons, writing from 136, Camden-road, estimates that he saw from 7,000 to 8,000. In the five minutes between 1.15 and 1.20 he counted the greatest number-viz., 276. At 1.12 he reckons they were falling at 100 a minute, "in fact, the sky was

Several very vivid flashes of lightning were remarked during the night. The last at 3. 54, was particularly brilliant, of a deep orange colour, and apparently emanated below the radiant in Leo. The horizon in that quarter was occupied by a pale glow, resembling what has been remarked during exhibitions of the aurora borealis. lished is Dr. G. F. Burder, of Clifton. Another astronomical observer whose observations have been pubdisplay, if it fell short of some of the descriptions which are on reHe pronounces that the cord, certainly surpassed anything that the present generation has have been conspicuous by their absence. About 11.20 a fine one was witnessed. Up to 11 p.m., he says, meteors may almost be said to seen, but no others were noticed until sixteen minutes after midnight, when a bright meteor was seen in the north, quickly followed counted in the same quarter of the heavens, nearly all large and by another and another, and in less than three minutes eleven were leaving trains, and all pursuing a generally similar direction. They all, without exception, radiated from a common centre in the constellation of Leo. Dr. Burder says

with such rapidity that occasionally in counting them as many as The scene was very striking. The meteors succeeded each other five had to be added to the score in a lump, that number appearing simultaneously in different parts of the sky. They were of various sizes and degrees of brilliancy, but a very large number were of about the apparent magnitude of Sirius, which star afforded a ready means of reference. Several equalled Jupiter in size, and a good number were comparable with Venus at her brightest. Few exceeded the last-named standard of comparison, and none very greatly exceeded it. On the whole, the comparative uniformity of size, and the entire absence (so far as observed) of any meteors of the largest class, were noteworthy features of the phenomenon. Almost without exception the meteors left trains of light, marking the course they had travelled. These trains in the case of the larger meteors were of surpassing beauty, being of a most delicate greenish hue and strikingly phosphorescent in appearance. This greenish tint was very constant. The meteors themselves, on the contrary, had often a ruddy glow, and in cases where the path was very much foreshortened to the eye, and both train and meteor could therefore be seen in apposition, the contrast between the colours of the two was very remarkable. The trains seldom lasted more than two or three seconds, and never, perhaps, more than ten. The length of apparent path varied in direct proportion to the distance from the radiant point at which the meteor first appeared. In the remoter parts of the sky, having paths of 15, 20, or even 25 degrees were observed, the estimates being made roughly by the eye, but those which had their starting-points nearer to the constellation Leo had paths proportionately short. None were seen to follow the very long course across the sky which the largest class of meteors often take.

As clearly as the spokes in a wheel point to the centre of the wheel, so, says this observer, did the short-course meteors, of which the trains of two or three were sometimes visible together, point to the spot in the constellation Leo from which they all emanated :

This spot was in a line between gamma and mu Leonis, about three degrees from the former and five and a half degrees from the

latter star.

Not only was the centre of radiation thus accurately the 25th of March; and presently after Easter, on the night of the defined by this display, but the epoch of maximum intensity would Festival of St. Ambrosins, that is the 4th of April, was there seen seem also to admit of a very close determination. Although it was almost all over this land, as it were almost all night long, vast anticipated that no great number of meteors would be seen before multitudes of stars fall from heaven; not by ones or twos, but so midnight, it can hardly have been from the cause assigned—namely, thickly that no man was able to keep count of it. This might pass the position of the radiant point below or near the horizon, that the for a true and faithful description of what we saw a few nights ago. fact accorded in this respect with the prediction, for the tract of But I do not find that in either instance the interval of years is sky in which the first meteors appeared had been equally visible divisible by 33. In your admirable article on the theory of these during the whole evening. Neither does the diminution of frequency appearances in your last number, it was implied that there was a fracafter 1 a.m. admit of any other explanation than that the star tional remainder over or under the 33 years cycle, and this may pershower, actually and irrespective of visibility, culminated at about haps be worth taking into calculation where eight or eleven centuries that hour. During the earlier part of the night a rather strong are concerned. ditiused light, no doubt of an auroral character, prevailed, especially over the northern part of the sky.

Writing from Coventry, Mr. W. W. Tyler remarks that from 10.30 till 12 (he and a friend being near Corley, the highest point of Warwickshire), there were several vivid flashes of lightning just above the horizon, "resembling more the bursting of globes of fire than ordinary lightning." During this time they did not count more than thirty meteors, but during the first hour of the morning as many as 250 were seen :

Just before one o'clock the appearances became so frequent that in about fifteen minutes we enumerated 800. After that it was impossible to compute the number. For another hour there was not an instant when a considerable number might not be seen at once. Sometimes eight, ten, twenty, or more. In every direction the whole firmament was brilliantly illuminated, but the greatest number originated in Leo Major, Ursa Major, and Cancer. The meteors took a direction from east to west, with but very few exceptions.

They may be divided into three classes. The most numerous were the ordinary shooting stars, interspersed with some very large ones, which left a long blue (and sometimes green) streak of light, varying in width. At the moment of extinction there was nothing extraordinary but the intense brilliancy of the head.

Another class occurred at intervals of a few minutes, and seemed to be balls of copper-coloured fire, which left no path, nor varied in brightness before vanishing. The most remarkable series were also infrequent. The path they took was an irregular curve, short, but well defined, and which remained in view two or three minutes. Some of the largest meteors appeared to burst and then reappear, leaving two nodes of light connected by a luminous line.

It would be impossible to exaggerate the grandeur of the heavens between one and three o'clock. It appeared to be as if thousands of rockets were being discharged in every part. The sky was clear, with occasional rain clouds. A fresh wind blew from the west. The thermometer was at about forty degrees. There was no apparent local disturbance of the atmosphere in any way by the meteors, nor any perceptible sound or smell.

At Dover "it lightened sharply during the whole night from the northward." About ten o'clock many single aerolites were seen darting from the horizon to the eastward; but here also the great-Hymns display was after midnight." One of the most singular and extraordinary parts of the grand sight," says a letter from this town, "was when several of the meteors ran parallel with each other, as if racing, and the colours varying from blue to purple." Mr. R. H. Allnatt, of Weymouth, speaks of the sight as "one of the most sublime displays it is possible to conceive." A constant shower of meteors was maintained, and the beautiful bay of that place afforded an excellent and extended sphere of observation. This writer fancied some of the meteors produced in their rapid transit a crackling sound, but the ripples of the water in the bay, he says, rendered that point somewhat problematical.

3. METEOR SHOWERS ANCIENTLY RECORDED. The Rev. John Earle, writing to the London Guardian, says :Perhaps it would be acceptable to some of your readers to be informed that shooting stars are recorded in our vernacular Annals under the years 744 and 1095. The first is a short sentence of a lost Anglian Chronicle that was kept probably in Yorkshire, and to which two of our southern chronicles-viz., D and E, were indebted for materials. The entry of 744 in E contains these words-" And steorran foran swyde scotienda :” that is, And stars went shooting remarkably.

The record of 1095 is more circumstantial. "On thisum geare weron Eastron on viii kal'. April'. and tha uppon Eastron on Sce Ambrosius messe niht. that is ii no' Apr' was gesewen forneah ofer eall this land swilce forneah ealle tha niht swide mænifealdlice steorran of heofenan feollan. naht be anan odde twam. ac swa thiclice that hit nan man ateallan ne mihte." This year Easter was on

IV. Miscellaneous.

1. CHRISTMAS.
"Tis Christmas day! glad voices
Repeat the pleasant sound;
And happy faces in our home,

And loving looks abound.
Why do we thus greet Christmas morn?
It is the day that Christ was born.

With little gifts that tell our love,

With garlands on the wall,

With thankful hearts and helpful hands,
We keep a festival.

Why do we thus keep Christmas morn ?
It is the day that Christ was born.

Full eighteen hundred years ago,
Christ Jesus came on earth.
He came, he lived, he died for us :
We thank God for his birth.
And therefore we keep Christmas morn,
The day our Saviour, Christ, was born.

And on this Christmas morning,

When the frost is at the door,
Dear child in your warm, pleasant home,
Think of the sick and poor :

So shall you well keep Christmas morn;
The day our Saviour, Christ, was born.

Christ healed the sick, and helped the poor,
When he was on the earth :

Do what you can to be like him,

This morning of his birth.

Help some one to keep Christmas morn,
for Children.
The day our Saviour, Christ, was born.

2. A VISIT FROM ST. NICHOLAS.
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were all hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads;
And Mamma in her kerchief and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long Winter's nap;
When out on the lawn I heard such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter;
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash,

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondrous eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagle his coursers they came,
And he whistled and shouted and called them by name,
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer! and Vixen !
On Comet! on Cupid! on Donner! and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,.

When they meet with an obstacle mount to the sky;
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys and St. Nicholas too,
And then, in a twinkling I heard on the roof,
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot,
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedlar just opening his pack.
His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His dear little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was white as the snow.
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and little round belly,
That shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly,
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself:
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod up the chimney he rose.

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle-
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

V. Departmental Notices.

GRAMMAR AND COMMON SCHOOL TRUSTEES. Two Grammar School Trustees of each Board retire from office on the 31st of January. Their successors are to be appointed by the county, city, or town municipal councils concerned at an early meeting during that month.

The election of Common School Trustees takes place throughout Upper Canada on Wednesday the 9th of January, 1867, and must, in each case, be concluded on that day. The proceedings commence at 10 o'clock a.m., and cannot be brought to a close before 11 o'clock. In case a poll is demanded, they may be prolonged until 4 p m., provided a vote be tendered during each hour. Should more than an hour elapse between each vote, the proceedings may be brought to a close, without further delay, by the chairman, or, in cities and towns, by the returning officer.

PAYMENT OF THE SCHOOL GRANTS.

REVISED LIST OF TEXT BOOKS. (Authorized by the Council of Public Instruction for use in the Grammar Schools of Upper Canada.)

NOTE. In the following list some books are prescribed under the authority of the fifteenth section of the Consolidated Grammar School Act, and others are recommended. The use of the books recommended is discretionary with the respective Boards of Trustees.

During the year 1867, the books already sanctioned by the
Council may continue in use, as circumstances require, but on
and after January 7th, 1868, the new list will be enforced.
I. LATIN.

TEXT BOOKS PRESCRIBED:

Harkness's New Series, viz. :

1. An Introductory Latin Book. By Albert Harkness, Ph.D.

2. A Latin Reader, intended as a Companion to the Author's Latin Grammar. By Albert Harkness, Ph.D.

3. A Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges. By Albert Harkness, Ph.D.

If preferred, the following may be used instead of the above series:

Arnold's First and Second Latin Book and Practical Grammar, revised and corrected. By J. A. Spencer, D.D.

A Smaller Grammar of the Latin Language. By William Smith, LL.D.

LATIN DICTIONARY RECOMMENDED: (See note above.)

A Latin-English and English-Latin Dictionary. By Charles Anthon, LL.D.

The Young Scholar's Latin-English and English-Latin Dictionary. By Joseph Esmond Riddle, M.A. II. GREEK.

TEXT BOOKS PRESCRIBED:

A First Greek Book, comprising an outline of Grammar and
an Introductory Reader. By Albert Harkness, Ph.D.
A Smaller Grammar of the Greek Language, abridged from
the larger Grammar of Dr. George Curtius.
GREEK LEXICON RECOMMENDED; (See note above.)
Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon.
III. ANCIENT HISTORY, CLASSICAL GEOGRAPHY,
AND ANTIQUITIES.

TEXT BOOKS PRESCRIBED:

A Manual of Ancient History. By Dr. Leonhard Schmitz. The Common School Apportionment is payable annually at First Steps in Classical Geography. By Prof. James Pillans. the Education Office to the authorized agent of the Municipal CLASSICAL DICTIONARIES, &C., RECOMMENDED: (See note.) Treasurer of each County, Ci y, Town, and Village, in the first week of July, provided the audited school accounts and the A Classical Dictionary of Biography, Mythology and GeoSuperintendent's or Trustees' Reports have been duly received. graphy. By William Smith, LL D. received.graphy. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. By William The Separate School Grants are paid to the authorized Smith, LL.D. agent of the Trustees of each school in January and July, on receipt of the semi-annual returns.

The Grammar School Grants are paid to the authorized agents of the County Treasurers and City Chamberlains on receipt of the semi-annual returns in January and July.

Whenever delays occur in the payments, they do not take place in the Department, but are occasioned either by the non receipt of the required reports, or by their being incorrect and therefore sent back for revision, or by the failure of Municipal Clerks to report to the Department as required by law the name and address of the Municipal Treasurers appointed by the Council; or the delay is caused by the failure of Municipal Treasurers or Separate School Trustees, to appoint a Toronto agent to receive the apportionment. Forms for all reports and blank powers of attorney, are gratuitously distributed to the officers concerned, upon application to the Depart

ment.

A Classical Dictionary. By Charles Anthon, LL.D.
A Manual of Roman Antiquities. By Chas. Anthon, LL.D.
A Manual of Greek Antiquities. By Charles Anthon, LL.D.
The revised list in other departments will appear as soon as
approved.

EDUCATION OFFICE, Toronto, December, 1866.