Page:Scientific Papers of Josiah Willard Gibbs - Volume 2.djvu/286

270 terra incognita, which astronomers had hardly troubled themselves to claim as belonging to their domain, that he first labored to establish law and order. It was doubtless not by chance that he turned his attention to the subject of shooting stars. The interest awakened in this country by the stupendous spectacle of 1833, which was not seen in Europe, had not died out. This was especially true at New Haven, where Mr. Edward C. Herrick was distinguished for his indefatigable industry both in personal observation and in the search for records of former showers. A rich accumulation of material was thus awaiting development. In 1861, the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences appointed a committee "to communicate with observers in various localities for combined and systematic observations upon the August and November meteors." In this committee Professor Newton was preeminently active. He entered zealously upon the work of collecting material by personal observation and correspondence and by organizing corps of observers of students and others, and at the same time set himself to utilize the material thus obtained by the most careful study. The value of the observations collected was greatly increased by a map of the heavens for plotting meteor-paths, which was prepared by Professor Newton and printed at the expense of the Connecticut Academy for distribution among observers.

By these organized efforts, in a great number of cases observations were obtained on the same meteor as seen from different places, and the actual path in the atmosphere was computed by Professor Newton. In a paper published in 1865 the vertical height of the beginning and the end of the visible part of the path is given for more than one hundred meteors observed on the nights of August 10th and November 13th, 1863. It was shown that the average height of the November meteors is fifteen or twenty miles higher than that of the August meteors, the former beginning in the mean at a height of ninety-six miles and ending at sixty-one, the latter beginning at seventy and ending at fifty-six.

We mention this paper first, because it seems to represent the culmination of a line of activity into which Professor Newton had entered much earlier. We must go back to consider other papers which he had published in the meantime.

His first papers on this subject, 1860–62, were principally devoted to the determination of the paths and velocities of certain brilliant meteors or fireballs, which had attracted the attention of observers in different localities. Three of these appeared to have velocities much greater than is possible for permanent members of the solar system.

To another a particular interest attached as belonging to the August