400 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



interior of the stone is equally peculiar, being loosely granular, the particles 

 uniform in character, small, highly crystalline, and nearly transparent. They 

 possess a brilliant lustre, being of a very light gray or greenish-white color. 

 They resemble volcanic peridot more than any species of the au^itic or fcld- 

 spar family. Nickelic iron, of a bright white color, in delicate filaments and 

 semi-crystalline grains, is thickly diffused through the mass; and thr-<- 

 grains, as well as those of the peridotic mineral, are flecked with brilliant 

 points of pyrrhotine (FeS). The specific gravity is 3.56. In general color 

 and effect to the eye it approaches neai'est to the Klein- Wenden stone (Sep- 

 tember 16, 1843); but it differs from, this in being larger grained and looser 

 in its texture. 



Meteorites of Harrison County, Indiana. A remarkable fall of meteoric 

 stones took place in Harrison County, Indiana, on the 28th of March, 18'vj, 

 which is thus reported on, in SiUiman's Journal, by Professor J. Lawrence 

 Smith, who visited the locality and personally investigated the facts con- 

 nected with the occurrence. The time at which it occurred (four o'clock 

 in the afternoon) rendered the phenomenon of ready observation. The area 

 of observation was about four miles square, and wherever persons were 

 about in that area the stones were heard hissing in the air, and then striking 

 on the ground or among the trees. Hardly a single person in the immediate 

 vicinity of the occurrence saw any flash or blaze, as was noticed by all who 

 heard the report from a distance. Three or four loud reports, like the burst- 

 ing of bombshells, were the first intimations of anything unusual. A num- 

 ber of smaller reports followed, resembling the bursting of stones in a lime- 

 kiln. The stones were seen to fall after the first four loud explosions. 

 Those who happened to be in the woods or near them heard the stones dis- 

 tinctly striking amongst the trees. In some places the noise of the falling 

 stones in the woods alarmed the cattle and horses in the vicinity, so that 

 they fled in terror. A peculiar hissing noise, during the fall of the stones, 

 was clearly heard for miles around. A very intelligent lady described it 

 as very much like the sound produced by pouring water upon hot stones. 

 The air seemed as if all at once it had become filled with thousands of ser- 

 pents. 



Four specimens of this meteoric fall were found, the largest of which 

 weighing nineteen ounces fell in the streets of Buena Tista, Ind., and 

 buried itself in hard gravel to the depth of four or five inches. They are all 

 covered by a very black vitrified surface, and when broken show the usual 

 gray color of stony meteorites, interspersed with bright metallic particles. 

 A chemical analysis of these fragments gave the usual meteoric constituents, 

 viz., nickeliferous iron, phosphuret of iron and nickel, sulphuret of iron, 

 olivine, pyroxene,. and albite, with traces of cobalt and copper. 



Shootiny Stars of August 9-10, 1&50. Since the year 1837, at least, it has 

 been found in the northern hemisphere, whenever the weather has permitted 

 observation, that shooting stars have been unusually abundant during a 

 period of several nights in August, gradually increasing in numbers for a 

 few days up to the tenth of the month, and then gradually diminishing in 

 frequency. While every other meteoric period has intermitted, this of 

 August holds out with little change. Observations during the past year 

 indicate no diminution of this phenomena, five hundred and sixty different 

 shooting stars being recorded by a party of observers in New Haven, Ct., on 

 the night of August 9th-10th. 



On the Luminosity of Meteors. In an article on this subject, com muni- 



