and in the Neiglihourhood of Agen, 293 



fbrfe resembles, in every point, all those which have fallen 

 from the atmosphere." 



2. Stones of Agen . 



Tlie stones known under the name of the stones of Agen 

 have been mentioned in the BlhUoth}qite Br'itanrt'iqne *. 

 Theii' fall has been confirmed by numerous testimonies and 

 authentic documents, inserted by M. Bertholon in the Jow- ^ 

 nal des Sciences utiles f. 



According to the above accounts, these stones fell on the 

 24th o{ July 1790, betvv'cen nine and ten in the evening, in 

 the conmumes of Juliac,Crcon,and others adjacent, between 

 Roquefort in the department of Landes, Isiezin in the de- 

 partment of Lot and Garonne, and Eause in the department 

 of Gerz, after the apparition of a large fire-ball which passed 

 through the air, accompanied with a loud report. 



They fell at dilFerent distances ; some gently, and others 

 with rapidity and a hissing noise. 



Thev buried themselves more or less in the earth : several 

 had fissures in them. 



Their weight in general was between a quarter of a pound 

 and two pounds : some of them, however, are said to have 

 weighed from twenty to twenty-five pounds ; and Mr. St. 

 Aniand saw in the nuiseum of Bourdeaux one of these frag- 

 ments about fifteen inches in length, taken from a stone 

 which, as said in the accompanying note, crushed a cottage, 

 made a conical hole of about five feet in depth, and killed a 

 farmer and some cattle, at the time of the explosion of July 

 24, 1790, near Roquefort in Landes. 



There is no stone in the place where they fell which ha% 

 any resemblance to them. 



Mr. Darcet was so kind as to transmit to me a fragment 

 of one of these stones, wh.ich fell near Barbotan, a place si- 

 tuated within the boundaries above traced out. It was that 

 subjected to arialysis by Vauquelin. 



This stone has so great a resemblance to that of Sales, 

 even in the most minute particulars, that the mineralogical 

 description would be the same, and therefore I refer to the 

 latter. It has the same vitrified crust ; the same substances 

 included, and nearly in the same proportions ; the same tex- 

 ture, hardness, and aspect ; the same chemical characters. 



I'he analysis made of it by Vauquelin gave him the same 

 chemical sulwtantcs as the other stones, and in proportions 

 nearly the same. 



» No. 154. p. 85. t Ko. 23. and 24. 1790. 



T 3 3. Nutict 



