ON METEORIC STONES. 401 



D 60 rad: earth 



therefore = — 6.406 x the radius of the 



1 + ^70 .9.366 



earth; and multiplying by 3.67, the ratio of the radius of the 

 earth to that of the moon, d=23.5xradius of the moon, which 

 diminished by one radius of the moon, leaves 'I'll times the 

 radius of the moon, or '24310.4 miles for the distance to which 

 a heavy body must be thrown by some internal power of the 

 moon, in order to remain suspended between the moon and earth. 

 According to the ratio of the quantity of matter in the moon 

 and earth, and the observed rate of falling of a heavy body at the 

 surface of the earth in the tirst second of time, the rate of falling 

 at the surface of the moon is 'equal to 3.01 S feet. Now, let 

 g=this rate=3.018, s=the distance to which the body must 

 be thro\vn=24310.4 miles; V=the initial velocity, or the ve- 

 locity which the body must have at leaving the surface of the 

 moon, then V=2*'gs=39364<.3 feet, or about 71 miles per 

 second, or more than ten times the velocity of the moon in its 

 orbit. Can we believe that there exists in the moon any internal 

 power, capable of producing this effect: When we consider 

 how small the attraction of gravitation is at the moon, would 

 not the existence of such a projectile force prove in the lapse 

 of ages, destructive to that body? And when centuries, and even 

 thousands of years have passed away without any diminution 

 of its magnitude, are we not irresistibly led to deny that there 

 is in the moon any power of projecting a part of itself beyond 

 the sphere of its own attraction ? 



No. LIX. 



Extract of a letter from a member of the Society, relative to the 

 great cold in January, 1 807, at the town of Hallowell, in ike 

 district oj Maine, Massachusetts, Head oj tide-water on Kenne- 

 beck River. Communicated by John Vaughan. 



Hallowell, January 29, 1807, 

 THE cold here on the night of the 22d — 23d, brought the 



