Fall of a Meteorite in Missouri, Feb. 13, 1839. 557 



The addition of hydrochloric acid is even indispensable to prevent 

 also the precipitation of the salt discovered by Serullas, tlie crystals 

 of which are readily distinguished by the unassisted eye. — Journal 

 de Pharmacie, Aout, 1839. ■ 



FALL OF A METEORITE IN MISSOUIII, FEBRUARY 13, 1839. 



On the afternoon of the 13th of February, 1839, a meteor ex- 

 ploded near the settlement of Little Piney, Missouri, (lat. 37'> 55' 

 N. ; Ion. 92° 5' W.) and cast down to the earth one stony mass or 

 more in that vicinity. Mr. Forrest Shepherd, of this city, who was 

 at the time exploring this region in the line of his profession, viz. 

 that of a mineralogical and geological surveyor, hearing of the ex- 

 plosion of the meteor, exerted himself to collect all the circumstances 

 of the occurrence. He subsequently succeeded in obtaining s'everal 

 fragments of one of the stones thrown down by the meteor. Mr. 

 Shepherd has favoured me with an opportunity to examine these 

 fragments, and has also communicated to me the details below re- 

 lated. 



The meteor exploded between 3 and 4 o'clock P.M., of the 13th 

 of February, 1839, and although the sky was clear, and the sun of 

 course shining at the time, the meteor was plainly seen by persons 

 in Potosi, Caledonia, and other towns near which it passed. At 

 Caledonia, which is about nine miles south-westerly from Potosi, the 

 meteor passed a little north, and at the latter place, a little to the 

 south of the zenith. Its course was almost precisely to the west. 

 The most eastern spot at which it was seen is about fifteen miles 

 west of St. Genevieve, (or about lat. 371" N. ; Ion. 90° W.) — the 

 most western is Little Piney, near which it exploded. To the ob- 

 servers at the latter place, the meteor appeared of the size of a large 

 star. They represent its motion as very slow ; but do not state how 

 many seconds it was in sight. We have no data for determining 

 the meteor's size, or velocity, or the inclination of its path to the 

 horizon. The direction of the meteor's motion with regard to that 

 of the earth, was probably such that the velocity of the former would 

 be apparently diminished ; and as at Little Piney the meteor must 

 have traversed only a small arc, its motion, to an observer there, 

 would appear quite slow. At the time of the occurrence, Mr. Shep- 

 herd was on the western bank of the Mississippi, near St. Mary's 

 landing, and heard a distant report, which he was afterwards in- 

 clined to refer to the explosion of this meteor. At Little Piney, Mr. 

 Harrison and others saw the meteor burst in pieces, and in a minute 

 or a minute and a half afterwards, they heard three explosions in 

 quick succession. Some of the inhabitants went in quest of the 

 stones which they supposed had fallen, and finally found a tree 

 which appeared to have been recently injured by the collision of 

 some solid body. Near this tree they discovered (although the 

 ground was covered with three or four inches of snow,) one of the 

 meteoric stones, about as large as a man's head, partly imbedded in 

 the earth ; and from the circumstances of its position and appear- 

 ance, there could be no reasonable doubt that this was the body 



