100 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Iowa City. There is so great interest attached to these celes- 

 tial visitants, I know you will pardon me if I diverge a little 

 from the path I have marked out, to call your attention for a 

 moment to this class of rocks. They may be designated as 

 bowlder rocks, for they come to us in fragments, and they 

 certainly are "out of position." 



The meteorite from which this came was of immense size. 

 It illuminated the whole State of Iowa, and part of the 

 adjoining States of Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin. In 

 April and May last, while the farmers of Iowa County w^ere 

 cultivating their fields, about four hundred pounds of the 

 fragments of this great stone were picked up, and they have 

 been carefully studied. The weight of the entire mass prob- 

 ably exceeded five thousand pounds ; and it rushed through 

 the atmosphere with great velocity, causing a rumbling sound 

 like distant thunder. The number of fragments recovered, 

 up to within a few weeks, is a little rising one hundred. The 

 question arises. From whence came this stone, what is its his- 

 tory, and what is its origin ? The matter of which it is made 

 up, corresponds to the elementary forms of matter which we 

 find existing upon our earth. We do not find in a meteoric 

 mass any new element ; but their chemical constitution is 

 peculiar, inasmuch as they always contain certain metals, as 

 iron and nickel. It is highly probable that meteorites are 

 fragments of exploded planets, although I know difiereut 

 views are held by scientitic men upon the subject. It is also 

 highly probable that the interplanetary spaces are filled Avith 

 these fragments, most of which ultimately fall into the sun, 

 and serve as fuel for that great central orb. 



These fragments hold regular orbits around the sun, in pre- 

 cisely the same way as does our earth ; and it is only when 

 they come in contact with the upper strata of our atmosphere 

 that they are made visible to us, and are attracted towards 

 our planet. 



Now, in order that we may get some idea of the movements 

 of these strange bodies, allow me to suppose that our own 

 earth, by some great convulsion, should become disintegrated, 

 — that it should burst into a very large number of pieces, — 

 what would be the result? The fragments of our planet 

 would move on, becoming more or less erratic in their 



