New Orrery. — Aerolites. 233 



responding observations on the place of this planet in the 

 northern hemisphere, maybe found useful with those that mav 

 be made in the-southem hemisphere, I therefore beg to send 

 you the result of some observations that I have made respect- 

 ing the place of his opposition with the sun. At 8 o'clock 

 this evening Mars was distant from y Virginis 3° 24' 15", and 

 from yj Virginis 2° 33' 45"; from which, and with recent obser- 

 vations made on his daily motion towards stars lying nearly 

 in his path, I make the place of Mars at his opposition with 

 the sun this morning 6 s 5° 3' 40" of longitude, and latitude 

 1° 12' 30" north; or _Rl85° 3' 40", and declination 1° 12' 30" 

 north. This will differ, but not materially, from what may be 

 ascertained of the place of this planet in" the Nautical Alma- 

 nac for 1824; and not having used a micrometer, for want 

 of stars situated nearer to the planet, — only a good sextant, — I 

 am not certain of extreme accuracy : however, the above result 

 will be found near the truth within a few minutes either way. 



Yours &c. 



William Burney. 



new orrery. 

 Mr. B. M. Forster of Walthamstow has just invented a 

 pendent orrery to represent the solar system. It consists of 

 globes, fixed to horizontal rods, and suspended by means of 

 catgut, which twisting or untwisting itself slowly," as the cir- 

 cumjacent air dries or moistens, produces the revolutions 

 of the imitated planetary bodies, the distances of the globes 

 which represent the planets being calculated to correspond 

 with those of the planets themselves. Mr. Forster considers 

 the machine as capable of great improvement, so as to be 

 able in time to represent the whole of the planetary system. 

 The catgut strings which suspend the globe twist themselves 

 hygrometrically by being brought into a dry room from a 

 moist one. 



AEROLITES. 



The subjoined notice has appeared in the newspapers ; but 

 no information on the subject has transpired from more au- 

 thentic sources: — 



A letter from Molinella, in the Legation of Bologna, of the 

 6th of March, says, " Within the last few days a great number 

 of meteoric stones have fallen in the neighbourhood of the 

 village of Arenazo. The largest of these stones is twelve 

 pounds in weight. Its fall was preceded by claps of thunder 

 of extreme violence, accompanied by wind, a phenomenon 

 which much astonished the inhabitants of the country. The 

 largest aeiolite has been taken to the museum of Bologna." 



Vol. 63. No. 311. March 1824. G g 



