208 



this state it continued till early dawn, when the enemy, having brought 

 his artillery to the pass, forced U9 to abandon it to continue our march. 

 I may mention that at the time of its fall the sky above us was beauti- 

 fully clear ; the stars were perhaps more than usually bright ; densely 

 black clouds, that all night long were emitting sheet lightning, lay low 

 on the horizon ; there was no wind whatever, and the atmosphere was 

 in that electric state that is often felt in tropical countries in the 

 intervals between thunder-storms. 



*' I never afterwards had an opportunity of revisiting the Mocorita, for 

 our permanent encampment was thirty-five leagues to the north of that 

 pass, between which and our encampment the country was completely 

 depopulated by our long war ; but, as the spot where the aerolite fell 

 was well known to many of our subaltern officers, who were frequently 

 sent to observe the frontier of Entre Rios, I have often heard them 

 describe it as a * piedra de fierro,' a stone of iron ; and I once provided 

 one of the most intelligent of them with a hammer, in order that he 

 might bring me a sample of it. On his return he told me it was so 

 excessively hard that the hammer bent, and was broken in unsuccessful 

 attempts to break off a small piece of it ; and all that he brought back 

 was a lump of dross, or matter having somewhat the appearance of 

 coke, though denser in texture, heavier, and less tenacious than it, 

 and which, I suppose, was the earth which, in the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of the aerolite, was absolutely melted by its intense heat, and 

 may probably, in this state of fusion, have partially imbibed some of the 

 matter of which the fused aerolite was composed." 



The Rev. Dr. Hume read a paper " On the History, Present Position, 

 and Future Prospects, of the Literaiy and Philosophical Society." 



FOURTEENTH MEETING. 



Royal Institution. — May 30, 1853. 



JOSEPH DICKINSON, M.D., F.L.S., &c., President, in the chair. 



The Secretary read letters from Professor Phillips, Assistant 

 General Secretary of the British Association for the Advancement of 



