FULGURITES, OR LIGHTNING-HOLES. 531 



ly called Serine. He also describes them as having been found in 

 similar situations in Pillau, near Konigsberg, in Prussia ; at Nietleben, 

 near Halle ; and at Drigg, in Cumberland, England. In a subsequent 

 paper, two years later,* he further describes other tubes found at 

 Rheine, in the bishopric of Minister, in Prussia ; the sand-hills of Re- 

 genstein, near Blankenburg, in the Harz; and near Bahia, in Brazil. 

 Fiedler is followed in his turn by Gilbert, f who gives a history of 

 the finding of the fulgurite at Massel, as above noted, and also those 

 of Bahia, in Brazil. An excellent r'esume, of the matter up to 1821 is 

 given in the " Ann. de Chemie et de Physique " for that year, \ and also 

 brief descriptions of the fulgurites formed on solid rock, as described 

 by Saussure and Humboldt. 



The tubes found in Cumberland were three in number, and were 

 formed in a white and reddish quartz-sand, in which were a few peb- 

 bles of " hornstone porphyry." One of the tubes was followed down 

 to a depth of twenty-nine feet, where it came in contact with a frag- 

 ment of the porphyry, and glanced off at an angle of about forty-five 

 degrees. The surface of the porphyry fragment was somewhat fused, 

 forming an olive-green glass. Beyond the fragment, the tube resumed 

 its vertical direction, but became weaker and easily broken. The 

 caving-in of the sand prevented exploration to a greater depth. One 

 of these tubes was two-pronged, and the main branch was again 

 divided into two, while small, lateral branches, two or three inches 

 long, were given off at intervals. 



The account of the occurrence and appearance of the tubes found 

 at Massel, as given by Hermann in 1811, and as quoted by Gilbert, is 

 as entertaining as it is inaccurate. He says : " The glass-like tube 

 resembles molten glass or iron. It grows in yellow sand from the 

 depth of the earth at Massel, on the south side of the Tcpel Hill, and 

 also in the Ellgutten wood, and on the high sand-hills close to the vil- 

 lage of Klein Schweinern. The tube has sometimes the thickness of a 

 finger or a thumb ; at other times it is as thick as a quill-pen, and the 

 deeper one goes, the thicker and stronger it is found (?). Its constitu- 

 ent parts are very soft when underground, but soon become hard by 

 exposure to the air, and have the appearance of a gritty, ash, or iron- 

 colored enamel, glisten like crystal at the point of fracture, give a 

 clear, ringing sound, and cut glass. It is hollow, shines like glass, 

 and has a reddish-brown color. It is not found near the surface, but 

 only after digging several ells into the ground. In the months of May 

 or June it naturally pushes upward, and crops out of the sand. This 

 point afterward breaks off of its own accord, or is knocked off by the 

 feet of passing people, cattle, or vehicles, by means of which many a 

 beautiful piece is found" (?). 



* " Ann. der Physik.," vol. Ixi, 1819, p. 235. f Ibid., vol. Ixi, 1819, p. 249. 



X " Sur des tubes Vitreux qui paraissent products par dcs comps de foudre." "Ann. 

 Chem.," etc., p. 290. 



