386 Professor Forbes on the Fall of an Aerolite. 



burnt the ground to a cindery state. No lightning accom- 

 panied the noise or the fall. The men were frightened, but not 

 stunned. The noise was heard to a great distance ; a man 

 present said he had heard it at Argentiere (ten miles in a 

 straight line). The people thought it was the devil had fallen, 

 and did not venture to dig up the stone for seven days, when 

 it was sprinkled with holy water by the priest. The hole was 

 exactly the size of the stone. There was no scattering of 

 earth. The direction of the stone's flight was from the north- 

 west : (this seems at variance with the assertion, that it pene- 

 trated the ground vertically). The stone had wedged itself 

 between two others, and could not be removed without break- 

 ing it. It weighed 220 pounds, as I learned from the man who 

 weighed it. It was sold for six francs ! 



I then went to Juvinas to question the Maire as to the pro- 

 ces verbal stated to have been drawn up on the occasion. I 

 was a little amused at the circumstances and habitation of that 

 dignitary, being an ordinary peasant, living in a wretched ho- 

 vel. Where the Archives could be was a puzzle ; and, on 

 inquiry, it appeared that the said prods verbal, not having 

 been kept in duplicate, had been sent to the Prefecture at 

 Privas. 



Being determined to gain evei'y possible information, I sub- 

 sequently went on purpose to Privas, the Chef-Lieu of the de- 

 partment, and through the civility of M. Berlie, geometre-en- 

 chef du Cadastre, I obtained a sight of, and was permitted to 

 copy, this quaint and amusing document, which has, it appears, 

 been already published in one of the French journals. 



It appears from other accounts, that the meteor was seen 

 by many persons at Viviers (twenty-five miles from Juvinas) 

 descending apparently on the Coirons (N.W.), with the ap- 

 pearance of a brilliant star. After disappearing, it left a 

 smoky trace. 



Another eye-witness, M. Jules de Malbos, at Bariat, eight 

 leagues from Juvinas, heard two detonations ; and happening 

 to be looking up, watching his men stripping mulberry trees, 

 he saw a luminous meteor /«^/ perpendicularly. It left a rib- 

 band of smoke, which remained tranquilly for more than ten 

 minutes (Ann. de Chimie et de Physique, torn. xvii.). 



