116 



A HISTORY OF 



must be contented with admiration. To be 

 well acquainted with the appearances of na- 

 ture, even though we are ignorant of their 

 causes, often constitutes the most useful 

 wisdom.* 



[But among all the wonders that have late- 

 ly engaged the attention of the philosopher 

 and the chemist, is the circumstance, that 

 after the explosion of these luminous meteors, 

 heavy stones, varying in bulk and number, 

 have almost constantly fallen from them to 

 the earth. Credibility in a fact, for which 

 not even a conjectural cause in the remotest 

 degree probable could be assigned, was for 

 some time suspended : but the proofs are 

 now so numerous, and of such respectable 

 authority, that it can no longer be doubted. 



In the year 1794, Dr. Chaldni published 

 a dissertation on this subject; and two years 

 afterwards Mr. King produced a still more 

 complete collection of examples, both ancient 

 and modern, many of them supported by 

 such evidence, that even scepticism could 

 no longer refuse its consent. Mr. Howard, 

 in the Philosophical Transactions for 1802, 

 published an admirable treatise, endeavour- 

 ing to throw all possible light upon a subject 

 BO singular and interesting. He not only col- 

 lected all the recent and well-authenticated 

 accounts of the fall of the stony bodies, and 

 examined the evidence of their truth, but pro- 

 cured specimens of the stones which were 

 said to have fallen in different places, com- 

 pared them together, and subjected them to 



[ a Dr. Franklin supposes a water-spout and a whirlwind 

 to proceed from the same cause : a fluid moving from 

 all points horizontally towards a centre, must at that 

 centre either mount or descend. If a hole be opened in 

 the middle of the bottom of a tub filled with water, the 

 water will flow from all sides to the centre, and then de- 

 scend in a whirl : but the air flowing on or near the sur- 

 face of land or water, from all sides towards a centre, 

 must at that centre ascend, because the land or water will 

 hinder descent. 



The lower region of the air is often more heated, and 

 o more rarefied, than the upper, and consequently spe- 

 cifically lighter : if therefore a large tract of land or sea, 

 unsheltered by clouds, and unrufiled by wind, become 

 violently heated and rarefied, so that the lower region 

 become lighter than the superincumbent upper one, the 

 heated lighter air will ascend like smoke up a chimney; 

 and as this rising cannot operate through the whole tract 

 at once, because that would leave too extensive a vacuum, 

 the rising will begin in that column which happens to be 

 most rarefied ; and the warm air will flow horizontally 



chemical analysis. It may here be proper 

 to give a few of the more recent instances, 

 with the testimonies upon which they rest. 



In July, 1794, about twelve stones fell near 

 Sienna in Tuscany, as related by the Earl of 

 Bristol. December 13, 1795, a large stone 

 of fifty-six pounds weight, fell at W old cot- 

 tage in Yorkshire, and is described by cap- 

 tain Topham. February 19, 1796, a stone of 

 ten pounds weight fell in Portugal, an account 

 of which is given by Mr. Southey. December 

 19, 1798, showers of stones fell at Benares in 

 the East Indies, upon the testimony of J.Lloyd 

 Williams, Esq. April 26, 1803, according toM. 

 Fourcroy, several stones, from ten to fourteen 

 pounds weight, fell near L'Aigle in Normandy. 



In corrohoration of these facts, it appears, 

 that whether they have fallen in England, 

 France, Italy, Germany, or India, they are 

 all composed of the same ingredients, all re- 

 semble each other, and completely differ 

 from any other known stone. Sometimes the 

 stones continue luminous till they sink into 

 the earth, but most commonly their luminous- 

 ness disappears at the time of explosion: but 

 they are always found hot. Their size differs 

 from a few ounces to several tons ; they are 

 usually of a roundish form, and always co- 

 vered with a black crust. When broken they 

 appear of an ashy-gray colour, and of a gran- 

 ular texture, like a coarse sand-stone, and 

 have an earthy srnell. 



A stone which fell in Yorkshire, deprived 

 as much as possible of its metallic particles, 



from all parts of this column, where the several currents 

 meeting, a whirl or eddy is naturally formed, ascending 

 by a spiral motion, in the same manner as water descends 

 spirally through the hole in the tub. 



If the vacuum passes over water, the water may rise 

 in a body or column to the height of about 32 feet ; and 

 this whirl of air may be as invisible as air itself. As the 

 whirl weakens, the tube may apparently separate in the 

 middle ; the column of water subsiding, the superior con- 

 densed part drawing up to the cloud. The tube or whirl 

 of air may nevertheless remain entire, the middle only 

 becoming invisible, as not containing any visible matter. 



The author has, frequently, in a fine calm summer's 

 day, when the sun has been very hot, and the atmosphere 

 unrufiled by winds, seen sheaves of corn, hay-cocks, and 

 other moveable substances, suddenly lifted up with a cir- 

 cular motion, and carried to a considerable distance : and 

 in a blazing fire, where the (!ame and smoke are carried 

 up through a small chimney, if a piece of paper or other 

 very light substance be put into the flame, it will be lifted 

 up the chimney with a spiral motion.] 



