9S 



ON STONY AND METALLINE SUBSTANCES. 



join with the 

 hiftorical tefti. 

 mony to prove 

 their origin. 



to the requiiite drynefs : not to obferve that no mention is 

 tuade of any examination of the properties of the earth called 

 alumina. In the proportion of magnefia, I have the fatisfac- 

 tion to find my analyfis correfpond very nearly with that of 

 Profeflbr Barthold ; and, if what he confidered alumina were 

 fuppofed filica, the ftone prefented to the French Academy, 

 the ftone of Enfiiheim, and the four I have examined, would 

 The linking agree very nearly in filiceous proportions. With refpect to 

 •onformity of the nickel, I am confident it would have been found in all, 

 thefe ftones, and nac ^ tne metallic particles been feparately examined. But, 

 their want of re- whatever be thefe variations, the mineralogical defcription of 

 oX b r a .niner°alsl l the French Academicians, of Mr. Barthold, and of the Count 

 de Bournon, all exhibit a ftriking conformity of chara£ier> 

 common to each of thefe ftones ; and I doubt not but the 

 iimilarity of component parts, especially of the malleable alloy, 

 together with the near approach of the conftituent proportions 

 of the earths contained in each of the four ftones, the imme- 

 diate fubjett of this Paper, will ettablifh very ftrong evidence 

 in favour of the aflertion, that they have fallen on our globe. 

 They have been found at places very remote from each other, 

 and at periods alio fufiiciently diftant. The mineralogifts who 

 have examined them, agree that they have no refemblance to 

 mineral fubftances, properly fo called ; nor have they been 

 defcribed by mineralogical authors. I would further urge the 

 authenticitjoof accounts of fallen ftones, and the ftmilarity of 

 circumftances attendant on fuch phenomena ; but, to the im- 

 partial it would be fuperfluous, and, to thofe who difbelieve 

 whatever they cannot explain, it would be fruitlefs. Attempts 

 to reconcile occurrences of this nature with known principles 

 of philofophy, it is true, are already abundant ; but (as the 

 Earl of Briftol has well exprefled) they leave us a choice of 

 difficulties equally perplexing. It is however remarkable, 

 that Dr. Chladni, who feems to have indulged in thefe fpecu- 

 lations with moft fuccefs, mould have connected the defcent 

 of fallen ftones with meteors ; and that, in the narrative of 

 Mr. Williams, the defcent of the ftones near Benares, fhould 

 have been immediately accompanied with a meteor. 



No luminous appearance having been perceived during the 



f n Ca X fclUf d " da y on wllich the ftone feI1 m York{mre ' lt muft be admitted, 

 Ccveral. rather militates againft the idea, that thefe ftones are the fub- 



ftances which produce or convey the light of a meteor, or that 

 4 a meteor 



Luminous ap- 



