316 Fall of Meteoric Stones. — Bees. — Chemistry. 



FAIX OF METEORIC STONES IN FRANCE. 



On the 5 th of September, a fall of stones took place at Agen 

 in France. M. Lamoureux, an eminent French naturalist, hap- 

 pened to be on tlie spot at tlie time, and was an eye witness of 

 the phoenomenon. He has transmitted a full account of it to 

 the Institute, accompanied by several specimens of the stones 

 which fell. It appears from his narrative, that at eleven a.m. 

 the sky was clear, calm, and transparent, as is the case in almost 

 all the southern provinces. Suddenly there appeared in the 

 north-west of the department, at a great height, a sombre cloud 

 moving slowly, and apparently of circumscribed dimensions, for 

 at first its diameter did not seem to exceed a few feet. It speedily 

 began to move more rapidly ; the cloud revolved as if on its axis, 

 with a noise similar to that of continual thunder; a terrible noise 

 was heard, and the cloud burst asunder. At this moment the in- 

 habitants of several communes were struck with terror, on seeing 

 fall around them a shower of stones of considerable size, and which 

 made holes in the ground several inches in depth. The stones col- 

 lected resemble those which fell at I'Aigle, des Landes, and other 

 places; but they are of a clearer gray, and of a less consistent 

 texture. 



BEES. 



The French agriculturists, who attend to the management of 

 bees, have recently employed with success a new method of ob- 

 taining the honey without killing these useful insects. By- 

 burning one of the mushroom species (the lycoperdon stellatum) 

 at the aperture of the hive, the smoke produces a state of stupor, 

 which lasts for a quarter of an hour only ; and during this inter- 

 val the bees mav be safely put into another hive, and the con- 

 tents of the old one removed. / 



M. Bergman, of Berlin, recently examined with great minute- 

 ness the bark of the pnmus padus, and found that it contained 

 a great quantity of prussic acid. Water distilled from this 

 bark has an odour as strong as that of the leaves of the laurus 

 cerasus, and an ethereated oil is obtained similar to that of 

 laurus cerasus and bitter almonds. This water has a pecivliarly 

 energetic action on animals. Thus, a dog of middling size, which 

 was made to swallow half an ounce, died in ten minutes ; and 

 another dog died in half an hour, after taking an ounce and 

 a half. 



The above distilled water, the inftision, and the bark in pow- 

 der, have been employed with success by Dr. Bremer of Berlin, 



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