128 



METEORITE. 



Meteorite, become rwsty, one side of their external surface exhibi- 

 T~** ted, like certain lavas, a dark and polished tint, while 

 their identity with stones reputed atmospheric seemed 

 to leave no doubt of their origin. In regard to their 

 history M. l)i*<c<imbes informed the author, that some 

 time before, prot>:iL>ly in the year 3801, the ladies of 

 the district were walking on the quay during a beauti- 

 ful moonlight night, when all of a sudden they perceiv- 

 ed a luminous cloud advancing from the west, and ex- 

 ploding with a very loud noise like the report of a can- 

 non, but much more hollow, disclosing at the same time 

 a beautiful ball of fire, in appearance perfectly sphe- 

 ric 'I, and about a foot in diameter. When it broke 

 from the cloud in which it had been conveyed, it was 

 supposed to be half a league from the shore, to which 

 it tended in a uniformly slanting direction, till it seem- 

 ed to fall on the Isle aux Tonneliers. Several persons 

 in the island of Bourbon affirmed, that, on the same day, 

 and at the same hour, they observed a luminous point 

 in the air, which, from the path of its motion, could be 

 no other than this globe of fire. 



Peo. March 5 and 6, 1803. A shower of red snow fell at 



Pezzo, at the extremity of the Valle Camonica. It was 

 preceded by a violent wind on the 5th. Journal de 

 Physiijuc, \ 80*. 



April 26, 1803. The history of the extraordinary 

 L'Aigle. shower of stones at L'Aigle, in Normandy, first appear- 

 ed in tiie ensuing artless communication from M. Ma- 

 rais, resident in that place, to his friend at Paris. 



" Al L'Aigle, the 13th Floreal, year 1 1. 

 " An astonishing miracle has just occurred in our 

 district. Here it is without alteration, addition, or di- 

 minution. It is certain that it is the truth itself. 



" On Friday last, 6th Floreal, between one and two 

 o'clock in the afternoon, we were roused by a murmur- 

 ing noise like thunder. On going out, we were sur- 

 prized to see the sky pretty clear, with the exception of 

 some small clouds. We took it for the noise of a car- 

 riage, or of fire in the neighbourhood. We were then 

 in the meadow, to examine whence the noise proceeded, 

 when we observed all the inhabitants of Pont de Pierre 

 at their windows and in gardens inquiring concerning 

 a cloud, which passed in the direction of from south to 

 northj and from which the noise issued, although that 

 cloud presented nothing extraordinary in its appear- 

 ance. But great was our astonishment when we learn- 

 ed, that many and large stones had fallen from it, some 

 of them weighing ten, eleven, and even seventeen 

 pounds, in the space comprized between the house 

 of the Buat family (half a league north north-east of 

 1'Aigle) and Glos, passing by St. Nicholas, St. Pierre, 

 &c. which struck us at first as a fable, but which was 

 afterwards found to be true. 



" The following is the explanation given of this ex- 

 traordinary event by all who witnessed it; 



" They heard a noise like that of a cannon, then a 

 double report still louder than the preceding, followed 

 by a rumbling noise, which lasted about ten minutes, 

 the same which we also heard, accompanied with hiss- 

 ings caused by these stones, which were counteracted 

 in their fall by the different currents of air, which is 

 very natural in the case of such a sudden expansion. 

 Nothing more was heard ; but it is remarkable, that 

 previously to the explosion, the domestic fowls were 

 alarmed, and the cows bellowed in an unusual manner. 

 All the country folks were much dismayed, especially 

 the women, who believed that the end of the world 

 was at hand. A labouring man at La Sapee fell pro- 

 strate on the ground, exclaiming, ' Good God ! is it 



possible that thou canst make me perish thus ? Pardon, Meteorite 

 I beseech thee, all the faults that I have committed.' N " 1 "~Y-"" 

 The most trifling objects, in fact, might create alarm ; 

 for it is not improbable, that history offers no example 

 of such a shower of stones as this. The piece which I 

 send was detached from a large one weighing eleven 

 pounds, which was found between the house of the 

 Buats and Le Fertey. It is said, that a collector of 

 curiosities purchased one of seventeen pounds weight, 

 that he might send it to Paris. Every body in this 

 country is desirous of possessing a whole stone, or a 

 fragment of one, as an object of curiosity. The largest 

 were darted with such violence, that they entered at 

 least a foot into the earth. They are black on the out- 

 side, and greyish, as you see, within, seeming to con- 

 tain some pieces of metal and nitre. If you are the 

 first to know of what ingredients they are composed, 

 you will inform us. One fell near M. Boisdela Ville, 

 who lives hard by Glos. He was much afraid, and 

 took shelter under a tree. He has found a great num- 

 ber of them of different sizes in his court- yard, his 

 wheat fields, &c. without reckoning all those which the 

 peasants have found elsewhere. Numberless stories, 

 more or less absurd, have been circulated among the 

 people. You know that our country is fertile in such 

 tales. Cousin Moutardier sends one of these stones to 

 Mademoiselle Hebert ; and he is not less eager than 

 we are, to know how these substances can be compress- 

 ed and petrified in the air. Do try to explain the pro- 

 cess. 



" The person who gave me the largest stone which I 

 send to you, went to take it at the mement that it fell, 

 but it was so hot that it burned him. Several of his 

 neighbours shared the same fate in attempting to lift 

 it. 



" The elder Buat has just arrived, and desires us to 

 add, that a fire-ball was observed to hover over the 

 meadow. Perhaps it was wild fire." 



At the sitting of the Institute on the pth of May, 

 Fourcroy read a letter addressed to Vauquelin, from 

 the town of L'Aigle, containing among other details 

 the following : 



On the 26th of April, about one o'clock, P. M. the 

 sky being almost serene, a rolling noise like that of 

 thunder was heard. It seemed to proceed from a 

 single cloud, which was on the horizon, and which 

 the inhabitants beheld with uneasiness, when, to their 

 great surprize and terror, explosions like the reports of 

 cannon, sometimes single and sometimes double, were 

 heard, along with a violent hissing, phenomena which 

 struck terror even into domestic animals ; for the cows 

 bellowed, and the poultry fled to a place of shelter. This 

 noise was succeeded by the fall of a great number of 

 stones of different sizes, weighing ten, eleven, and even 

 seventeen pounds. The largest entered the earth to 

 the depth of a foot. Several of these fell into the 

 court-yard of M. Bois-de- la- Ville, and one of them very 

 near him. Many curious persons collected some of 

 them ; and Fourcroy laid before the Institute one of 

 the fragments, which, when compared with that of the 

 Villefranche specimen, presented at the meeting by 

 Pictet, greatly resembled it in every point, exhibiting 

 the same colour, texture, and black crust ; in a word, 

 the fragments could not he distinguished from each 

 other but by the size. 



Lamarck then reported that he had received several 

 letters, apprizing him of a fire-ball which had been seen 

 to pass from east to west with great velocity on the 

 same day, and at the same hour at which the event al 



