0« the Fall of Stones from the Clouds. 257 



Wiust have been also vaporized to be afterwards concentrated 

 into masses of gelatine^ and sometimes of a very considerable 

 sizCk We may particularly cite as a j)roof the gelatinous mass 

 which fell hear Groepzig in Saxony, the extent of which was 

 upwards of five feet and as large as the human body ; for it is 

 not less difficult to admit that these balls may be formed in the 

 iair than tbe aerolites themselves. If we endeavour to combine 

 all these facts, we shall be inclined to think tbat a kind of for- 

 mation of metals takes place in the air, in the same way as we 

 see plants and organic bodies in general have the faculty of 

 changing the nature of the substances v,-hich they absorb*. It 

 is well known that hvdrogen gasf can at a certain temperature 

 volatilize some metals ; but it is scarcely possible that this gas 

 can give the form of vapours to the metallic particles of aerolites, 

 since it is found in the atmosphere in an unappreciable quantity 

 only. Besides, hydrogen will never vaporize the nickel, the iron, or 

 the various earthy substances which enter into the composition 

 of those stones. Nor can heat give the form of vapours to 

 those substances ; for in that case it Avould be very difficult to 

 conceive their composition, which is in general nearly identical. 

 Finally, how could vapours which are raised into the air so .ar- 

 range themselves as to form such a compound mixture ? We 

 may add, that the regidar form of the metallic particles seems 

 to indicate a kind of fusion, which does not agree with their 

 feeble degree of oxidation, as M. Proust has remarked. 



Admitting that during the ignition of the metallic nucleus all 

 these metallic parts are formed, we can then imagine the small 

 extent of the nucleus in comparison with the immense size of 

 the bull of fire from which it comes. In fact, the metallic nu- 

 cleus is nothing else but the residue, or as it were the caput 

 mortuum remaining after the great burning, and the gluey mat- 



• We may see the experiments which have been made on the formation 

 of metals and earths, in plants cultivated in sulphur and charcoal, ond 

 twice watered with distilled water: 1st, In the Meinoii by Schrader, which 

 gained the prize from the Berlin Academy, and an extract from it in the 

 second \olume of Gchlen's (Jheniical Journal. 'Zd, In the Memoir by 

 Crell, entitled PerkulaGenesin Carhoms puri, quern vocaiU,£;c. inPlcmtis 

 vc^et'iiitibu$ ihzesiigantiit. This memoir wai read to the Society of Got- 

 tingen, and an extract of it was published in the Journal de IW.decine, of 

 Sakburi;, 8tl) April 1811. The CKperiments of Crell and Schrader have 

 been made witli the most scrupulous precision. 



t Aisf!nic unites with gaseous hjdro»en, as first observed by Scheele : 

 Potassium is dissolvf-d in hyilr'igen — a current of iiydrogen or azotic fjas 

 detei-mines the volatilizutiou of sodium. Hitter has even advanced tliat 

 a great number of metals may be combined vv'ith hydrogen gas by the ac- 

 tion of a strong Galvanic pile; but this is not proved. — Gilbert's Annals. 

 ^V'e also read with advantage ihe observations of Corradori at printed ia 

 JBrut^natelli's Journal. 



Vol. 44. No. 198. Oct, 1814. R ter 



