^n .Account bf.a Shoucr of Meteoric Stone£y. ii3.7'? 



iiKiLicecl them, towards evenings to search the hok \i\ the 

 yard, where they ioiiiul a stone buried in the lootsc earth- 

 which had fallen in upon it. It was two feet from the sur- 

 face — the hole was about twelve inches in diameter; and as 

 the earth was soft and nearly free from stones, the mass had 

 sustained little injury, only a few small fragments having 

 been detached by the shock. The weight of this stone was 

 about thirty-five pounds. From the descriptions which wc 

 have heard, it must have been a noble specimen, aiid men 

 of science will not cease to deplore that so rare a treasure 

 should have been immediately broken in pieces. All that 

 remained unbroken of this noble mass, was a piece of twelve 

 pounds weight, since purchased by Isaac ikonson, esq., of 

 Greenfield, with the liberal view of presenting it to some 

 public institution. 



Six days after, another mass was disco^^ered, halFamile 

 north-west from Mr. Prince's. The search was induced by 

 the confident persuasion of the neighbours that they heard' 

 it fall near the spot where it was actually found buried in 

 the earth, weighing from seven to ten pounds. It was 

 found by Gideon Hall and Isaac Fairchild. It was in small 

 fragments, having fallen on a globular detached mass of 

 gneiss rock, which it split in two^ and by which it was it- 

 self shivered to pieces. 



The same men informed us that they supected another 

 stone had fallen in the vicinity, as the report had been di- 

 stinctly heard and could be referred to a particular region 

 somewhat to the east. Keturning to the place after an ex- 

 cursion of a few hours to another part of the town, we were 

 gratified to find the conjecture verified, by the actual dis- 

 covery of a mass of thirteen pounds weight, which had 

 fallen half a mile to the north-east of Mr. Prince's. Having 

 fallen in a ploughed field, without coming into contact with 

 a rock, it was broken only into two principal pieces, one of 

 which, possessing all the characters of the stone in a re- 

 markable degree, we purchased ; for it had now become an 

 article of sale. — It was urged that it had pleased Heaven to 

 rain down this treasure upon them^ and they would bring 



their 



