in the manufacture of tungsten steel by Bessemer's process. The operation was conducted in the ordinary way-gray Scotch pig and some Spiegeleisen being employed-but in the convertor was added a quantity of iron containing a known weight of tungsten. This would have given 0.7 per cent. of tungsten in the whole mass; but one-half was lost by oxidation in the convertor. Though the amount of tungsten was so small, the steel received a good temper, and forged and rolled well. The author expresses the opinion that ordinary gray iron, not at all steely, and rather impure, may, by the addition of tungsten, be converted into good steel by Bessemer's method.

Test of Steel-headed Rails.-A steel-headed rail, made at the Wyandotte Rolling Mills, has been subjected to some severe tests, under the direction of Mr. Lyon, of the Sligo Iron Works, Pittsburg, Pa. The rail was cut 5 feet long, and a weight of 1,600 lbs. was allowed to fall on it as follows: for the first blow the weight was raised 5 ft., and the second 10 ft.; then the rail was turned over and received the third blow, with a fall of 15 ft., and the fourth blow with a fall of 20 ft., which bent the rail almost double. The rail was then taken to the steam-hammer, whose weight was 8,800 lbs., and received ten or twelve blows. When the bar was nearly straightened out it broke, but the iron and steel remained perfectly welded together. One of the pieces was then subjected to 100 blows from the 8,800 lbs. hammer, on the head of the rail, as follows: 50 blows at 2 ft. fall, and 50 blows at 3 ft. fall. This crushed the rail without breaking the weld of the iron and steel.

METEORS (see also ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA AND PROGRESS). The meteoric shower of November 14, 1867, had been looked for with confidence, and preparations had been made in all parts of the United States to note its phenomena with more or less scientific accuracy. No similar occurrence in the history of the world was ever subjected to such patient and methodical observation; and the result is the accumulation of a great amount of interesting data which will be of service hereafter in solving the mystery of meteoric showers. The editor has availed himself of every source of information within his reach, but would acknowledge his peculiar obligations to the carefully prepared article on the subject in the American Journal of Science and Arts, for January, 1868.

By previous arrangements among astronomers and other persons qualified to report intelligently upon the phenomena, the hours from 10 P. M. to 2 A, M. had been designated for concerted observations for parallax at numerous points in the United States. It was thought that the meteors would be less numerous in these hours than later, and hence more easily identified, and that conformable meteors would be seen at more stations, since their paths would be more nearly horizontal and longer.

The air was clear in most places, though floating clouds concealed some of the meteors. The moon was but two days past the full; hence the number seen and the brilliancy of the exhibition were greatly diminished.

The observations under direction of the United States Naval Observatory were, except for the parallax, highly satisfactory and complete. Commodore Sands and five assistants performed the work at Washington, while Prof. Harkness, of the Observatory, was stationed at Richmond. In his brief official report, the commodore says that 125 meteor tracks were mapped before 41 A. M., when the meteors flew so thick that identification became hopeless, and simple counting was resorted to: 1,000 meteors were counted in 21 minutes; but as these were counted while mapping was going on, it is probable that one-half of all that fell within the area of observation were not seen, so that it may be estimated that 2,000 really fell in the space of time mentioned. Afterward, successive hundreds were counted in the following intervals: 4; 5m 305; 5m 35'; 5m 44; 9m 3; 9m 37; 10m 31'; 18m 20. The time of maximum thickness of the shower was about 4h 25m, which is about two hours later than that given by the European observations of 1866, showing a slight change in the position of the stream. Many of the meteors were remarkable for their brilliancy and for having a splendid green train, which usually vanished in a few seconds, but in one or two cases lasted several minutes. The radiant point was well defined, being in right ascension 10h 1, and declension 22° 31'. Commodore Sands predicts that the shower in 1868, if there be any, will not begin until 10 A. M., Washington time, and will therefore be seen only in the Pacific Ocean.

The observations of Prof. Harkness at Richmond were exclusively for parallax; and therefore he makes no reliable estimate of the number of shooting-stars visible from that point. Unfortunately the arrangement for telegraphic signals (which were to have been exchanged between the two observatories) failed, through some fault of the wires, and the chief object of his labors was frustrated. From various data, however, he estimated the altitude of the shower at about 100 miles above the surface of the earth. With another observer, he counted, in a range of vision embracing about half the visible heavens, 193 meteors in ten minutes, and estimated that they flew past at the rate of 2,000 an hour. Some were mere specks of light, while others shone with a brilliancy surpassing that of the largest rockets, and with all the colors of the rainbow. In regard to the main body of the stream, he says that it was thicker in some places than in others.

Director G. W. Hough, of the Dudley Observatory, Albany, made a full report of the shower, as seen from that point. The following table is prepared from a careful comparison of notes made by him and others at the time:

From the last-named hour until sunrise, a few brilliant meteors were seen, which are not included in the list. It appears from an examination of the table that the maximum of frequency occurred at 4 31m A. M. mean time, and the rate of fall was 47 a minute. Occasionally 6 or 8 would fall simultaneously; but, as a general rule, they appeared in groups of 2 or 3 at a time. The radiant point was in the constellation Leo, R. A. 10, and D. about 25° N. The time of flight of a few was determined by magnetic registration on the chronograph. It varied from one-tenth to five-tenths of a second. A number of very brilliant meteors were seen, surpassing Sirius in splendor, and looking very much like sky-rockets. One of the most curious phenomena was the continuance of the train after the meteor had disappeared. In one case, Prof. Hough estimated the time as 65 seconds, during which the train remained visible, and in a number of cases it exceeded 30 seconds. The color of the brighter ones was light blue, white, and orange.

At New Haven, Ct., the shower was observed by two scientific parties, one for parallax and the other for numbers visible. The observations for parallax have not yet been compared and reduced, but the following numbers were seen by individuals of the second company from 1 10 to 5: 813, 888, 635, 913, 790, 737, 792, 600, 408; average 731. Of course, more or less time in the height of the shower was lost by each one. Prof. H. A. Newton, author of the article in the American Journal, says, that allowing for the before-mentioned cause, and for cloudiness, and for the hour from 5 to 6 A. M., it is reasonable to assume that the number for one person for the five hours between 1 and 6 would be at least 900. This would give about 5,000 for the total number visible in the moonlight. The moon, however, must have concealed one-half or three-fourths of the whole number visible. But for that cause 10,000 or even 20,000 might have been seen. The meteors seen at New Haven, as everywhere else, appeared to emanate from the constellation Leo. Prof. Twining, who had observed with great

care and discussed the remarkable meteoric shower of 1833, makes the following comparison between the two events:

After half-past three o'clock on the morning of the 14th, I did not again observe the meteors until five o'clock, and, consequently not until their frequency had become very much less than in the interval. Still they were, even then, more numerous than I had witnessed since 1833. In from 5 to 5h 10m I counted not less than fifty that were conformable, and from that to 5h 22m, 50 more-making 100 (and probably two additional) in 22m. Afterward from 5h 40m to 5h 45m, there were seen but 13, and in the following five minutes, to 5h 50m, only 4. The meteors at five o'cock, compared with those at three o'clock, had no observed difference of magnitude, or flight, or duration of trains. From these and the more extended observations of others, made public at New Haven and elsewhere, it appears obvious that the scale of this display, compared with what was observed by myself and a multitude of others in 1833, was not at a rough estimate-more than about one-fifth. This estimate has respect to each of the three following particulars, viz. the frequency of the meteors protracted through a long time; the massive character and brilliancy of the longest and largest ; and the duration of the main body or shower. In respect also of the entire aggregate of numbers the disparity would appear much greater still. In 1833 there were not less than five hours of full development; while the same this year was but a single hour. Again, in 1833, the frequency, prevailing through two hours or more, was estimated by competent observers from 10,000 an hour to several times that number. Ten thousand an hour was, no doubt, an over-cautious estimate; while the by Professor Olmstead, although at the other extreme, aggregate number of 200,000 in seven hours assigned appeared finally-so far as my own observations and investigations at the time could determine-very much nearer to the truth. Again there were, in this display of 1833, occasional meteors which surpassed, almost immeasurably, any August or November meteors seen in the United States since that occurrence. One such occasional meteor was witnessed by myself, and described at the time; and I saw in the northeast, not long before sunrise, more than one so brilliant and large as to show a well-defined circular and fiery disk through the dense glow of twilight which made the train invisible. By a few observers,

meteors were seen in the zenith after the sun had risen.

Mr. Kingston, Director of the Magnetic Observatory at Toronto, Canada, has prepared the following table from the reports of four ob

At times the flight of meteors was so incessant that only a portion could be counted. Prof. Watson noticed particularly that in the vicinity of the radiant point the light of the meteors was of a sea-green tint, with occasion ally strong tints of the blue. The position of the radiant point he found at half-past four to be, R. A. 150° 45', Dec. + 21° 55'.

Prof. T. A. Wylie, of the Indiana State University, assisted by several students, watched from 9 P. M. to 5 A. M.; but, owing to the haziness of the atmosphere, they counted only 535 meteors. The greatest number seen in a given time was from 3" 35" to 3" 36", averaging 14 in a minute.

A cor

A writer in the San Francisco (Cal.) Times said that nearly 500 meteors were counted in half an hour between 1 and 2 A. M. respondent of the Sacramento Union reported that from 1' 45 to 5h the meteors gradually decreased in number. Dr. Harkness, of California, says that when he was first notified of the shower, at 20 minutes past 1 o'clock, the meteors were falling at the rate of about 50 a minute.

Mr. George L. MacManus, of Chihuahua, Mexico, says: "When we first observed the meteors we attempted to count them. We counted 380 in about 10 minutes; but then they fell so thick and fast that we gave up in despair.

Often 20 or 30 at a time were seen."

Mr. Bradford, United States consul at Pekin, China, saw the shower in the country, about 50 miles N. N. W. of that place. The following account of his observations has been made public:

The moon was shining brightly, and occasional clouds were visible in the southwest heavens, while the wind came in puffs from the mountain ranges to the northwest, when at about 5.15 A. M. his attention

was first attracted by the wild shouting of his guide, and he was not a little startled to find himself a witthe world. The grand spectacle was displayed in an ness to the annual meteoric shower in that quarter of are of not less than 120 degrees in the northeastern portion of the firmament, which at times seemed to be rent in twain, from about 25 degrees of the zenith, by solid masses of luminous bodies, of various magnitudes and surprising brilliancy, which darted in dazzling confusion across his vision, and again several hundred of these meteors, of different sizes, would be observed at the same time, all emitting the most intense light, and the nebula of the largest lasting sometimes three minutes. One of these monsters shone with a distinctive brightness above that of the moon, as it issued from about 15 degrees of the North Star, and passed vertically below the horizon, giving forth, as it fell, coruscations of various bright colors, and when disappearing its nebulæ resembled a waterspout in high latitudes. It was not until quite 6.80 glory of this fiery exhibition, and the rising sun soon A. M. that the approaching dawn began to dim the brought an end to the exciting display.

No unusual number of meteors were seen in Europe on the morning of November 14th.

Prof. Newcomb, of the Naval Observatory, has calculated proximately the parallax of those few meteors of which accurate synchronous observations were taken at different meteors at 75 miles, and thinks that they were places. He estimates the height of the brighter extinguished at an average height of 55 miles. The mean length of their path could hardly exceed 22 miles. With regard to the probable number, magnitude, and nature of the meteors, he says:

During the thickest of the shower they were counted at the rate of three thousand per hour. It may be estimated that the observers saw all that fell within a circle of one hundred and fifty miles in diameter, having its centre seventy-five miles southvelocity of forty miles per second, it would seem that, east from Washington. From this number, and their in the thickest part of the stream traversed by the earth November 13th, there was an average of one

meteoroid in nine hundred thousand cubic miles of

space. And supposing three hours to be the usual time of a November shower, the thickness of the stream from north to south would appear to be sixty thousand miles. The meteoroids are distributed along it, probably, at the rate of forty thousand to the lineal mile, a million of meteoroids probably passing in a second. The data for estimating their mag

nitude are slender. Several were so brilliant that their reflection could be seen from the face of the chronometer, even in the bright moonlight. This last remark has been made by observers in other places also on the same night. To throw so great a at which distance some surely were, would require fight to the distance of one hundred and fifty miles,

several thousand millions of common candles.

Prof. Newcomb believes, from various con

siderations, that Comet 1, 1866, known as Temple's or Tuttle's comet, whose orbit the entire November stream of meteors is known to follow, is itself simply an agglomeration of meteors just dense enough to be visible in the solar rays; and he thinks the same to be true of other telescopic comets.

Prof. Newton gives the following summary of deviations from known observations:

The eastern limit of the regions on the earth's sur face in which the shower was visible must have been