METEORIC STONES. 217 



stones examined by the academicians was to that of water, as 

 3535 to 1000. The specific gravity of the stone of Ensisheim, 

 as tried by Barthold, was 3233 ; that of the stone examined 

 by Gassendi (who saw it fall) was 14, common marble being 

 1 1 ; and, taking the specific gravity of marble to that of water, 

 as 2716 to 1000, the specific gravity of the stone observed by 

 Gassendi will be to that of water as 3456 to 1000. So near a 

 coincidence between observations, made at such a distance 

 of time, upon these various substances, cannot fail to strike us 

 as very remarkable, and to prepare us for that fuller demon- 

 stration of their identity, which was reserved for the labours 

 of our countryman, Mr. Howard. 



This excellent philosopher has elucidated the subject of 

 our present consideration, by a course of experiments as 

 interesting and instructive as any that the science of chemical 

 analysis can boast of. He fortunately obtained specimens of 

 the stones which fell in several very distant quarters of the 

 globe ; at Benares, and in Yorkshire (as we have already 

 described) ; near Sienna, and in Bohemia, according to 

 evidence not altogether so satisfactory as that upon which the 

 other narratives rest. 



He began his inquiries, very judiciously, by a minute 

 examination of the external mineralogical characters of these 

 four substances ; and in this pail of his task he was indebted 

 to the learning and expertness of the Count de Bournon. 

 The substances were found to resemble each other very 

 closely in their general appearance, and in the nature of their 

 component parts. The chief difference consisted in the 

 different proportions in which the same component parts 

 were combined, so as to form the aggregate of the hetero- 

 geneous masses. Their specific gravities were nearly the 

 same, unless that the abundance of iron in one of the masses 

 caused a considerable increase of its gravity. It may con- 

 tribute to the formation of a precise estimate, if we present, 

 in one view, the results of the experiments made to measure 

 the specific gravities of the most remarkable specimens 

 hitherto examined. The four last in the list were calculated 



