112 



METEORITE. 



Meteorite. The native iron from Bohemia, like the larger speci- 

 S ^"V^- / men from Siberia, is compact, anil contains nodules, 

 but not so numerous. They are, besides, quite opaque, 

 and very much resemble the globules in atmospheric 

 stones. This iron contains nearly 5 percent, of nickel; 

 and between 5 and 6 per cent, of the same metal seems 

 to exist in a piece of native iron, brought from Sene- 

 gal. 



In like manner, we shall offer no apology for includ- 

 ing in our chronological recital the mention of pulver- 

 ulent or coloured showers, since the products of some 

 of them seem to indicate a similar origin, and since, in 

 several instinces, their fall has even accompanied that 

 of concrete masses. The colouring matter of alleged 

 showers, however, has sometimes been found to be of 

 a vegetable or animal nature, so that cases of this de- 

 scription are to be admitted with caution. Thus, the 

 crimson snow, described by Captain Ross, in his ac- 

 count of his recent voyage to Baffin's Bay, is supposed 

 by Dr. Wollaston to owe its complexion to some vege- 

 table production, and Mr. Bauer fancies that he has 

 detected in it the existence of a non-descript Uredo, 

 which he, very appropriately, designates nivalis. With 

 the exception of such instances, however, the black 

 and reddish dusts to which we shall have occasion to 

 refer, may, perhaps, be regarded as replacing the grey 

 and earthy portions of the friable meteoric stones. Nor 

 is it improbable that the vitreous matter which accom- 

 panies the masses of native iron, may be the same por- 

 tions completely fused, and that the dusts, meteorites, 

 and ferruginous masses may have undergone different 

 degrees of heat, which would account for their differ- 

 ent modifications and appearances. Certain it is, that 

 even sand was mingled in the Siena shower of stones, 

 thus pointing to an intimate connection between silex 

 in the loose and in the consolidated state, and thus jus- 

 tifying our insertion of the few examples of atmosphe- 

 ric sand that have come within our knowledge. 

 The regis- I* ma y> moreover, be proper to premise, that al- 

 ter of ex though we have adopted Dr. Chladni's revised cata- 

 amples fur logue of meteoric appearances, and an article inserted 

 Mrict| be ac 8 '" the secon<1 nmnl)er oi ' the Edinburgh Philosophical 

 curatVur J urna ') as the basis of our historical recapitulation of 

 complete, recorded cases, we by no means wish it to be under- 

 stood, that we vouch for the truth of them all indiscri- 

 minately ; for some of them rest on very slender or 

 doubtful evidence; and a few we have purposely dis- 

 carded, because we have been apprised, on unquestion- 

 able authority, that they were apocryphal. We may, 

 however, pretty fairly presume, that the number of 

 genuine occurrences of the phenomenon is, at least, 

 not inferior to that which we purpose to quote ; for it 

 is reasonable to infer, that while the learned continued 

 incredulous, even true reports might be rejected as 

 fabulous; and several foreign collections of fossils con- 

 tain specimens of reputed atmospheric origin, and ex- 

 hibiting the features of meteoric physiognomy. It is, 

 likewise, worthy of remark, that many fragments of 

 heavenly descent may, at this moment, lie scattered on 

 the earth, because, if abandoned but for a short time 

 to the variations of humidity and temperature, to which 

 the surface of our planet is constantly exposed, their 

 metallic portions would be as speedily oxidized and 

 degraded as a bit of polished steel, and thus render 

 them to the eye of casual observation undistinguishable 

 from morsels of those ferruginous stones which may be 

 met with in almost every region of the globe. Be- 

 sides, many relations of the phei.omenon may have 

 iunk into oblivion from the waste of time, or the stroke 



the pheno- 



of calamity ; and, on a fair computation of chances, Meteorite, 

 meteors may have frequently exploded over desert '->" -J 

 tracts of land, or the pathless expanse of the waters. 



From the sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament, Sacred 

 we are not aware that any passage can be cited in di- scripture 

 rect proof of the descent of stones from the atmosphere, affords no 

 The ingenious but fanciful M>. Edward King, indeed, dirert inli - 

 in his " Remarks concerning stones said to have fallen mat " 

 from the clouds, both in these days and in ancient 

 times/' points to two passages as announcing such an 

 event. The first occurs in the 1 3th verse of the 1 8th 

 Psalm The Lord also thundered out of heaven, and the 

 Highest gave his thunder : hail-stones and COALS OF 

 FIRE. This last expression has, no doubt, been con- 

 jectured to denote real hard bodies in a state of igni- 

 tion: and the term a^*.;, employed by the cautious 

 Seventy, rather favours such an interpretation. The 

 same expression, however, occurs in the verse imme- 

 diafely preceding, without admitting of this significa- 

 tion; and the phrase seems to be only a figurative 

 mode of painting lightning ; for, even in the sedate 

 latitudes of the north, and in plain colloquial discourse, 

 we currently talk of balls of fire, and thunderbolts, 

 without any reference to solid matter. The other pas- 

 sage adduced by Mr. King, is the llth verse of the 

 10th chapter of Joshua. And it came to pass, as the;/ 

 jied from before Israel, and mere in the going down to 

 Beth-horon, that the Lt,rd cnst damn <;REAT sTOtir.sfroni 

 heaven upon them unto Azckak, and they died: they rvcre 

 mt,re which died with hail-stones than they whom the 

 cluldrtn of Isiael slew with the sword. Here the ex- 

 pression great stones is, perhaps, less ambiguous than 

 coals vf .fire ; yet the context hardly permits us to 

 doubt, that these great stones were really hail-stones, 

 or rather, perhaps, lumps of ice, formed in the atmo- 

 sphere, such as occasionally fall in summer, and such 

 as alarmed the whole of Paris and its neighbourhood, 

 in July, 1788. At all events, the slaughter of the 

 Canaanites is represented as resulting from the special 

 interposition of divine power ; and the consideration of 

 miracles is irrelevant to our present purpose. In the 

 New Testament, however, we find a passage, which 

 may, perhaps, be construed as alluding, at least inci- 

 dentally, to the traditionary fall of a meteorite ; for, in 

 the Acts of llir Apostles, the chief magistrate of F.phe- 

 sus is represented as thus addressing the people : Ye 

 men oj Ejiltesvs, what man is there thai knometh not lion 

 that the city of the Ephesittns is a worshipper of the 

 great goddess Diana, and of the ima.qe WHICH FELL 

 DOWN FROM JUPITEH ? or, more literally, or THAT 

 WHICH FELL nowN FROM JUPITER. According to some 

 learned commentators, this image was merely a conical 

 or pyramidal stone, which fell from the clouds ; and it 

 appears that various other images of the heathen dei- 

 ties were nothing else. Thus, Heroriian expressly de- 

 clares, that the Phenicians had no statue of the sun, 

 polished by the hand, but only a certain large stone, 

 circular below, and terminated acutely above, in the 

 figure of a cone, of a black colour, and that they report 

 it to have fallen from the heavens. Nor is it at all sur- 

 prising that rude and superstitious tribes should attach 

 ideas of veneration and mystery to a solid and ignited 

 body, precipitated from the sky. But even the com- 

 plete silence of the sacred volume with respect to any 

 physical appearance, does not imply its non-existence 

 during the periods to which that volume refers ; for 

 scientific statements form no essential part of the plan 

 of revealed religion ; and stony bodies may have occa- 

 sionally descended from the sky, in the peopled or un- 



