l^a Scientific Intelligence. 



city ; and is described to have comprised a blaze of light, surrounding 

 a red globe about the size of the moon, wliich impressed the spectators 

 with the idea of that luminary descending from the skies. The same 

 phenomenon, and at the same moment of time, it appeared from the 

 newspapers, was likewise noticed at Hazareebaug, in Bengal, a distance 

 of upwards of two hundred and fifty miles eastward from Allahabad. But, 

 as the atmosphere was clouded when the ball was seen at the latter station, 

 and the light was sufficiently strong to illuminate the horizon, the meteor 

 appearing between the clouds and earth's surface, it is evident that at 

 that particular moment its elevation could not have been greater than a 

 few thousand feet from the ground. The meteor descended at Rourpoorj 

 a village under the jurisdiction of Futtehpore, situated nearly seventy miles 

 north-west from the station of Allahabad, immediately after it was seen at 

 that place. The descent was accompanied with noises resembling the ex- 

 plosion of distant artillery, and a stone was seen falling, which, in the act 

 of descending, is said to have emitted sparks similar to those proceeding 

 from a blacksmith's forge. A strong sulphurous smell was also perceptible, 

 and when first discovered the stone was hot to the touch. Besides the 

 stone thus actually known to have fallen, several others of a similar de- 

 scription were picked up, at the distance of several coss from each other, 

 whence it appears that a shower of stones in this instance took place, — or 

 that several stones were enclosed in the body of the meteoric globe, which, 

 analogous to balls emitted from a ShrapnelVs shell, were projected in va- 

 rious directions at the moment of explosion. 



The meteor seen at Hazareebaufr and Allahabad is identified with the 

 shower of stones which fell near Futtehpore. The fragments amount to 

 several pounds in weight. One weighs nearly one pound and six ounces 

 avoirdupoise, and is heavy for its size. The external surface is of a deep 

 black colour, the stone exactly resembling a body coated with black paint 

 or pitch. In some places are also seen smooth black specks, darker than 

 the rest of the covering, that looks as if it were cracking from the action of 

 fire, to which it has evidently been exposed. The coat is likewise indent- 

 ed or rough, as if it originally possessed a softer consistence, which has 

 been compressed by the action of some hard body, and in certain places 

 is also covered with a yellowish-coloured substance. This black coating 

 is not thicker than the finger nail, and encloses a whitish, or ash-coloured 

 mass, which is very friable, contains a number of shining particles, and 

 exhibits small brown specks, and streaks, or veins of the same colour. 

 Upon examination with a magnifying glass of considerable power the 

 shining particles are discovered to be evidently metalHc, and to present 

 an appearance exactly resembling the Tutenague, or white copper, named 

 put by the natives, that is commonly employed in the bazars for the for- 

 mation of domestic utensils. 



The three substances just mentioned are connected together by a fourth 

 of an earthy consistence, and so soft that all the 9ther substances may be 

 easily separated by the point of a knife or the nail, and the stone itself 

 crumbled to pieces between the fingers. This cement is of a grey colour. 



