METEORITE. 



125 



Silica, 46L66 



Magnesia, 2-J t>7 



Iron 34.67 



Nickel, 2 



A pretty entire tpecimen occur, in Mr. Ferguson's 

 roller!:. >n 



The precrdinir cae affords m striking example of the 

 diffrrrnt manner in whii-h we regard a phenomenon by 

 itaelf iul the very same phenomenon, when we conn, 

 der it in connection with other*. The naturalists of 

 Sictu. .warr lhal the stones had fallen after one of the 

 oat violent tempests, and on the (Uy immediately tub. 

 sequent to one of the mo*t formidable eruption* of V- 

 suviu., wet* inclined to view it as electrical or volca- 

 nic ; and Sokdant tood almost (ingle in the opinion, 

 that the pin ei Mini wa< independent of the eruption. 

 But they who now contemplate the -ame fact in it% re 

 o many other*, who know that the Siena 



the tan* chemical reeuha with otben which are aacer- 

 tained to have fallen in different put* of the world, 

 when not breeae, or clorl interrupted the serenity 

 at the weather, are decidedly convinced th .t it baa no 

 to any volcanic eruption, or to any ordinary 



* >a ... > 1 1 % 



m* hosuc in 



call.,1 ,.,-, 



April IS, 1795. Stone* fell in Ceylon. Beck. 

 I he circumstance* attending the fall of the York- 

 shire atone afe UMSS dsteiUd by Majur Tpl*m : 

 Wold Cot. " *^* man ' WDO > 7 some fortuiiou* rirrumstessn*. 

 happen* to poi tn any extraordinary runosity, ha* a 

 very irour^sorne companion. ..It was* my gaud fortune 

 to tumble iota this iiitin*jiit by stnne falling new 

 utry: end though I have been 

 both publicly and privately, tor a thou- 

 ive answered innumerable inqui 

 .1 a resolved lo consign the etone in question 

 e public mil im*i. and to deliver with it the 

 lit I wea able to Uike Irnrn living 

 i the spot, ea I we* * that time engaged on 

 in London. The stone, therefore, will no 

 longer * blush unseen." but be subject to be examin- 

 ed by every phikasnpher in the en . Kim, who 

 may choose to vi.it the Mateum .,/ Mr. Sow Ay . . . 

 ' H.vmg premiaed ihu* much. I shall proceed lo 

 wha cirrnmatanoea attended the railing of the 

 ir.tHKi witne*ed by many peo- 

 ple who could have no interest in fabricating a false 

 account, and were far too ijasyjli to have done so. 

 What ie most emsriilar is, thai it should navr been so 

 well attested, bteaun. on the high wold* of Yorkabire, 

 tflDQlieidl of slonrs might hve fallen, and there might 

 not have been rvi-n a solitary ahepherd. or hi* man 

 olilary dog. to have witiiiiisj the ocrurrence. 



' It wa* on Sunday, about three o'clock, the 13th 

 of Dttrmher, n the year l?5. that the stone in ques- 

 tion fill w t .in two field* ot my house. The weather 

 was misty, and, at times, inclining to rain ; and though 

 there waa some thunder and lightning at a distai 

 wa* n..- till the falling of ihe atone thai ihe expiation 

 look pUce, which alarmed ihe *urroon<ling country, 

 and which created o .li-tmrt'y the sensation that 

 ometnmg very singular bad happened. 



When the stone fell, a shepherd of mine, who wa* 

 returning fmm hi* ih>i. wa* about 150 yards ir..n, 

 the spot; (inarge S-twilm. a carpenter, was pasaing 

 within 6.) yrd . and .1 y, one of my farm- 



ing servant*, wa* *o new the spot when it fell, that 



he was trut-k very forcibly bjr some of the mud and Meteorite. 

 earth raied by the <tone dashing into the earth, which "*" "V"* 

 it penetrated to tii- depth of twelve inches, and seven 

 afterward* into t ,- cl'alk rock, making in all a depth 

 ot" i. nit-teen inches irmn the surface. 



' While the stone was passing through the air which 

 it did in a nort -ea-t direction trom the sea-coast 

 numbers of persons distinguished a body passing through 

 the clouds, though not able to a-.ct-rt.un whai it was; 

 and two son* of the clergyman of Wold Newton (u vil- 

 lage near me) eaw it pas* -o distinctly by them, that 

 in iin iiiniirdiairly to my house, to know if any 

 thirg extraordinary hud happened. 



' In the different village* over which the stone took 

 it* direction, vjriou* were the people who heard the 

 noise of something passing through the air, accurately 

 ami distinctly, though they could not imagine what 

 was the CIUT of it; and in many of the provincial 

 newspauers, theae account* were published al ihe lime 

 from different person*. 



" In fact, no circumstance of the kind had evermore 

 concurrent tevlimnnie* and the appearance of the stone 

 itsrlf. while it resemblrs in composition ihooe which 

 are supposed to have fallen in various otiier parts of the 

 world, has no counterpart or resemblance in the natural 

 tone* of the country. 



' The etone in n* fall, excavated a pi ice of the depth 

 before oMrlitioned, ami of something more than a yard 

 in diameter. Il had fixed itself %o strong!) in the chalk 

 rack, that it required aome labour to dig it out. 



" On being brought honv. it waa weighed ; and the 

 exact weight, at the lime, waa 5<i pounds ; which ha* 

 been diminished in email degree at present, by dif- 

 ferent pieces being taken from it as present* to diffe- 

 rent I'trrali of the country.. .All the three wiinmaM 

 who eaw it fall, agree perfectly in ihis account of the 

 manner of its fall, and that they *aw a dark lx*ly pass- 

 ing through the air, and ultimately lnke into the 

 ground ; and though. Ir.xti their utiiation and rh., rac- 

 ier* in life, they could have no poxible obj> ot in de- 

 tailing a false account of this transaction, I I'elt M> de- 

 eirou* of giving this mailer every degree of authi-nti- 

 ihat, a* a magislrate. I look iheir account* upon 

 lely on my return into the country. I 

 to doubt any of their evidence, alter the 



Ht minute investigation of 

 Of a hundred an<i -nt\-t 



I xxty-two parts of the composition 

 of the Yorkahire stone, Mr. Howard found, 



Silk*. 



le of iron. . . 

 Oxide of nickel, . 



75 

 37 

 48 

 . '2 



II. de Dn'e, we may add, found it to correspond ex- 

 actly, in apect and cluirscter, with tin- irrteoric frag- 

 ment* froai Benares and Vdlefranche, ot which men- 

 tion will be made in U>e -vqn- i 



J nuary 4, IT!Ki. Stone* fell near Belaia FrrkiM, in BrUi.-Fu- 

 Rusaia (jM. AH. February 19, 171*). I h- i-ti-um^ rt-. kua. 

 lation is extruded from Mr. Southry's Lrileri J'rvm 

 Spam and I'^rtufal. 



" A phenomenon lias occurred here within these few 

 day*, which we sometime* find mi niioni-d in liiiinry, 

 ami alway* disbelieve. I -lull iinkr no conunrnl on 

 the account, but give you an autln nn- copy nt Uie de- 

 position of Uie witnesses before the magistrate*. 

 7 



