54 Account of a Fall of Meteoric Stones. 



found among the productions of this globe. These con- 

 siderations, together with the facts that are immediately 

 to be mentioned, must, in connection with the testimony, 

 place the credibility of the facts asserted to have recently 

 occurred in Weston beyond all controversy. 



The falling of stones from the clouds is an event 

 which has frequently happened in Europe, in Asia, and 

 in South-America. The accounts of such phenomena 

 were, for a long time, rejected by philosophers, as the 

 offspring of ignorance and superstition. Several facts 

 of this kind, however, within a few years, have been 

 proved by evidence so unexceptionable, as to overcome 

 the most obstinate incredulity. It is now admitted, not 

 only that such phenomena have existed in modern times, 

 but that the accounts of similar events, in former ages, 

 are in a high degree probable. As this is the first time 

 that stones are known to have fallen in this part of Ame- 

 rica, it may not be uninteresting to those who have 

 paid little attention to this subject, or who still hesitate 

 to admit that such things have happened, to see a state- 

 ment of several similar events in other countries, and 

 some of the evidence by which they are supported. 



In 1492, on the 7th of November, at Ensisheim, in 

 Upper Alsace, a stone fell from the atmosphere, which 

 weighed 260 pounds. Contemporary writers agree in 

 stating, that, on this day, between 11 and 12 o'clock in 

 the morning, a loud explosion was heard at Ensisheim, 

 and that this stone was soon after seen to fall, in a field 

 at no great distance from the town. This stone, till 



