BOOK OF THE DAMNED 103 



nearly real than our opponents. Wideness is an aspect of the 

 Universal. We go on widely. According to us the fat man is nearer 

 godliness than is the thin man. Eat, drink, and approximate to the 

 Positive Absolute. Beware of negativeness, by which we mean 

 indigestion. 



The vast majority of "thunderstones" are described as "axes," 

 but Meunier (La Nature, 1892-2-381) tells of one that was in his 

 possession; said to have fallen at Ghardia, Algeria, contrasting "pro- 

 foundment" (pear-shaped) with the angular outlines of ordinary 

 meteorites. The conventional explanation that it had been formed 

 as a drop of molten matter from a larger body seems reasonable to 

 me; but with less agreeableness I note its fall in a thunderstorm, 

 the datum that turns the orthodox meteorologist pale with rage, or 

 induces a slight elevation of his eyebrows, if you mention it to 

 him. 



Meunier tells of another " thunders tone" said to have fallen in 

 North Africa. Meunier, too, is a little lamentable here: he quotes 

 a soldier of experience that such objects fall most frequently in 

 the deserts of Africa. 



Rather miscellaneous now: 



"Thunderstone" said to have fallen in London, April, 1876: 

 weight about 8 pounds: no particulars as to shape (Timb's Year 

 Book, 1877-246). 



"Thunderstone" said to have fallen at Cardiff, Sept. 26, 1916 

 (London Times, Sept. 28, 1916). According to Nature, 98-95, it 

 was coincidence; only a lightning flash had been seen. 



Stone that fell in a storm, near St. Albans, England: accepted by 

 the Museum of St. Albans; said, at the British Museum, not to be 

 of "true meteoritic material." (Nature, 80-34.) 



London Times, April 26, 1876: 



That, April 20, 1876, near Wolverhampton, fell a mass of 

 meteoritic iron duri r ' - heavy fall of rain. An account of this 

 phenomenon in Nt> 4-272, by H. S. Maskelyne, who accepts 



it as authentic. h > Nature, 13-531. 



For three . see the Scentific American, 47-194; 52- 



83; 68-325. 



As to \ e larger than could very well be called an 



"ax": 



Nature, 



That. ." , , 1884, at Tysnas, Norway, a meteorite had fallen: 



that the L. was torn up at the spot where the object had been 



