[ 289 ] 



I^IV. On. the Stones said to have fallen at Ensisheim, in the 

 Neigklvi/rhood of ^gen, and at other Places. From the 

 Memoir rf M. De Dhee *. 



Jjeing desirous to collect a certain number of these extra- 

 ordinary facts, that I might compare them with each other, 

 I sought for and obtained some correct ideas respecting two 

 masses of tliis kind ; one of which fell near Ensisheim, and 

 the other in the environs of Agen. These stones, indeed, 

 have been already mentioned ; but as the latter was neither 

 analysed nor described mincralogically — as the circumstances 

 of the fall of the former are imperfectly known — and as, at 

 the period at which Mr. Biirthokl professor of the central 

 school of the Upper Rliine described and analysed it, he 

 could not search for certain distinguishino- characters of this 

 kmd of stones, which were not then known — I thought it 

 might be of importance to give an account of them here, in. 

 order to remove all uncertainty respecting the nature of these 

 bodies. 



1. Sto?ie of Ensisheim. 



The stone known under this name, which fell at Ensi-" 

 sheim in Alsace, made a great noise, especially about the 

 end of the fifteenth century, and is mentioned in several 

 works. Mr. Butenschoen, professor of history in the cen- 

 tral school of Colmar, gave some account of it, which was 

 inserted in the Decade Philosophiqve : and to the kindness 

 of that gentleman I am indebted for the following extracts 

 from the chronicles of the time. 



Literal Translation of a German Notice respecting the Stone 

 of Ensisheim, which lu as formerly preserved along with 

 that Stone in the Parish Clmrch of the Place. 



"On Wednesday, Nov. 7. the night before St. Martin's 

 day, in the year of our Lord 1492, a singular miracle hap- 

 pened : for between the hours of eleven and twelve a loud 

 clap of thunder took place, with a long-continued noise, 

 which was heard at a great distance ; and a stone fell from 

 the heavens in the Ban of Ensisheim which weighed 260 

 pounds ; and the noise was much louder in other places 

 than here. A child then saw it strike on a field situated on 

 llic upper Ban, towards the Rliine, and the In, near tjhe 



''■ Sfe the last Number of the Phil. Mjg. 



\'or-. XVI. No. G4. T canto;i 



September 1803. 



