179 



While standing in the inclosure adjoining his house, his atten- 

 tion and that of his family was attracted by a loud sound, over 

 head, which somewhat resembled thunder ; and a few minutes 

 after a stone struck the southeast side of a wagon-house, and 

 bounding off, rolled into the grass. A dog lying in the doorway 

 started up and ran to the place where the stone fell. When 

 picked up immediately after, it was found to be quite warm, and 

 possessed of considerable sulphurous odor. The fragment in 

 question was small, about the size of a pigeon's e^g, and irregu- 

 larly shaped. Nearly three fourths of its superficies was covered 

 with a black, non-lustrous, evidently fused crust, while the re- 

 mainder presented the appearance of a fresh fracture, and was of 

 a light-gray color, and of a granular or semi-crystalline texture. 

 Its composition was apparently silicious and not metallic. This 

 specimen was bought by the Regents of the University of the 

 State of New York, and is now deposited in the State Cabinet at 

 Albany. Other fragments are reported to have fallen in the 

 vicinity of the Hudson, but careful inquiry has thus far failed to 

 discover them. 



From the above facts it seems evident, that the meteor of Au- 

 gust 11th was of immense size, probably of tons weight, and that 

 it exploded violently at no great distance above the surface of the 

 earth. It is also an interesting subject of speculation as to what 

 became of the other fragments ; and also of what the smoke so 

 abundantly developed during its course was composed. 



The Curator of Entomology read the following post- 

 humous paper by the late Dr. T. W. Harris : — 



Observations on the Transformations of the Cecido- 

 MYi^. By T. W. Harris, of Cambridge, Mass. 



The following are understood to be established doctrines con- 

 cerning the transformations of insects : — 



During the growth of an insect, new membranes or skins are 

 successively formed or matured beneath the outer skin, whether 

 the latter be immediately cast off or temporarily retained. The 

 innermost or last-formed membrane becomes the skin of the 

 imago ; the penultimate is the skin of the pupa ; and the ante- 

 penultimate is the skin of the larva. The EphemercB moult their 



