IN recent years this meteor group has not developed exceptional activity, nor have its annual returns attracted such general observation as tbe Perseids of August; but it is nevertheless a stream that is entitled to a considerable amount of interest, as some of its displays appear to have been noticed in ancient times, and it is identified with the comet described by Thatcher on April 4, 1861. The modern displays of this shower have not justified the anticipations formed of it in regard to its richness because of its periodic character. Of late years the special region of the orbit where tbe meteorites are clustered in the richest profusion has probably been far removed from the earth. The apparent feebleness of the shower may therefore be regarded as merely temporary. The Leonids of November have during the last fifteen years similarly offered a poor spectacle to those who have encouraged the hope that they might attain a prominent degree of activity. But with the parent comet (I. 1866), in distant parts of its path, it is not surprising that comparatively very few of these meteors have been seen. The same remark equally applies to the April meteors. They are chiefly condensed near the comet of 1861, which is now traversing a section of its orbit sufficiently remote from the earth to have withdrawn all the richer parts of the stream from our cognizance. The meteorites lately encountered by the earth upon crossing the node of this comet on about April 20 are simply the outlying and more scattered remnants of the system. It is highly probable, however, that the distribution of the particles is to some extent irregular, and that in certain years the shower attains a more pronounced aspect than the conditions would indi cate. Thus in 1884 there was a rather conspicuous display, the number of meteors visible being about 22 per hour for one observer; but this, though representing a striking degree of productiveness relatively to the minor showers, yet falls much below the character of a meteor-stream of first-class importance.