332 MEMOIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, VOL. XIII. 



When taken out it was still warm and in a few seconds dried the moist earth adhering to its surface. It was found to 

 weigh 51 pounds. 



Nathaniel Hines, who was plowing in a field adjoining Mr. Amspoker's place, heard a report like the blasting of 

 rocks in a well followed by several smaller reports. He looked up and saw a black body descending to the earth at an 

 angle of about 30 to the vertical. It struck the ground about 200 yards from him. Repairing to the place he found 

 that in its descent it came in contact with the corner of a fence, breaking off the ends of the three lower rails and entering 

 the ground about 18 inches. It was warm and had a sulphurous smell. This stone was not weighed but it is estimated 

 to have been between 40 and 50 pounds in weight before any portions were broken off from it. This was probably the 

 stone that the carpenters saw but lost sight of when it passed behind the house. 



James M. Reasner was in. his house at the time of the explosion, but hearing a noise like striking against the door 

 with the fist he went out, when his attention was attracted by a whizzing sound overhead. Looking up he saw what 

 appeared to be a black streak descending in a slanting direction toward the earth. After he heard that stones had fallen 

 in that vicinity he sought for and found a stone weighing 36 pounds. 



William Law was in his house, 1 mile east of Concord. Upon hearing the first report he went out into the yard. 

 He heard a buzzing sound passing over the house in a northwest direction and saw the sheep running in a field not far 

 from the house. Hearing that stones had fallen he went to the field in which the sheep were and found a stone weighing 

 53 pounds. It had fallen upon the end of a partially decayed log, through which it passed and buried itself in the 

 ground. This was the largest stone that had been found at the time I visited the district. But I since learn that the 

 one described by Professor Andrews was found after my visit to the place. 



A blazing meteor was seen from other parts of the State on the same day. The Columbus Statesman of May 5 

 says that "near McConnellsville several boys observed a huge stone descend to the earth which they averred looked like 

 a red ball, leaving a line of smoke in its wake." McConnellsville is 25 miles south of Concord. 



Mr. D. Mackley, of Jackson County, in a communication to the Cincinnati Commercial, says, "On the 1st day of 

 May at precisely half past 12 o'clock I was standing on the platform at the railroad station in Berlin when I saw, in a 

 northeast direction, a ball of fire about 30 above the horizon. It was flying in a northerly direction with great velocity. 

 It appeared as white as melted iron and left a bright streak of fire behind it which soon faded into a white vapor. This 

 remained more than a minute, when it became crooked and disappeared." Berlin is about 80 miles southwest of 

 Concord. 



The meteor seen from McConnellsville and Berlin was undoubtedly the same that exploded and fell in Guernsey 

 County. No one of the many persons who saw the stones fall and were in the immediate vicinity at the time noticed 

 anything of the luminous appearance described by those who saw it from a distance. 



All the stones that I have yet seen have the same general appearance. They are irregular blocks, and are covered 

 with a very thin crust which looks as if it had been fused. The edges of the blocks are not sharp but rounded, and the 

 faces present the usual pitted appearance of meteorites. They absorb water with a hissing sound. The fragments are 

 of a bluish-gray color. Under the lens five substances can be detected. A snow-white mineral is largely disseminated 

 throughout the mass. A clearer white mineral can be distinguished in some specimens. Metallic grains are quite 

 numerous, a yellowish brown mineral in patches, and black particles scattered over the surface. One specimen had 

 very thin veins of a shining black mineral. When in large masses the stone is exceedingly tough, requiring repeated 

 blows of a hammer to fracture it, and when broken into small pieces it can be crushed with ease in an agate mortar. 



The specific gravity of the mass was found to be 3.5417. On analysis one gram of the stone was found to contain: 



Silica 0.51250 



Protoxyd of iron 25204 



Magnesia 08873 



Alumina 05325 



Lime 00785 



Iron 08803 



Nickel 02360 



Sulphur 01184 



Chromium Trace. 



Phosphorus Trace. 



Water . 00035 



L 03819 

 Coshocton, Ohio, June 4, 1860. 



Prof. J. Lawrence Smith, M. D., of Louisville, Kentucky, informs us that on hearing vague rumors of the event 

 two days after its occurrence (reported as an earthquake accompanied by a fall of stones), and although 400 miles 

 distant from the place, he immediately visited New Concord and obtained all possible data respecting the phenomenon. 

 He is convinced from a thorough examination of the facts that no fall of meteoric stones before recorded possesses so 

 many points of interest as the one in question, surpassing even the far-famed fall of L'Aigle. He reserves many details 

 of the event with his chemical examination for a paper in the next number of this journal. The analyses, so far as they 

 are complete, show the constitution of the New Concord stones to be identical with those that fell about the same time 

 last year, March 28, 1859, in Indiana. 



