Wrttorttp. Juried to toefc pkee. ft was added, that this meteor 

 * "Y"* had been seen at tea before it reached the continent. 



But we pas* to the sulwtance of M. 15 lot's letter, ad- 

 dressed to the minuter of the interior, and published in 

 the Journal del Debalt. This gentleman, who is ad- 

 vantageously known over Europe for his scientific at- 

 tainments, was deputed by government to repair to the 

 pot, and collect all the authentic facts. The contents 

 of his letter have been since expanded into the form of 

 a memoir, which manifests the caution and judgment 

 that guided his inquiries. 



M. Biot left Paris on the 25th of June, and, in place 

 of proceeding directly to L'Aigle, went first to Alencon, 

 which lie* fifteen league* to the west couth- west of it. 

 On his way, he was informed that a globe of fire bad 

 been observed moving toward* the north, and that it* 

 appearance was followed by a violent explosion. From 

 A!cM',on he journeyed through various village* to I \ - 



METEORITE, 



7 j Ib. and the smallest which was 



129 



subjected to M. Mfteorht. 



gle, being directed in his progress by the accounts of let it fall again. 



Biot's inspection, ouly a thousandth port of that weight, 

 or two French grot. 



As we cannot make room for an analysis of M. Biot's 

 more extended communication, we &hall be contented 

 to select only two fact-. 



The vicar of St. Michel declared, that he observed 

 one of the stones fall with a hissing noise at the feet of 

 hi* niece, in the court-yard of hi* parsonage, and that it 

 rebounded more than a foot from the pavement. Fie 

 instantly requested hi* niece to fetch it ; but, as she 

 was too much alarmed, a woman, who happened also 

 to be on the spot, took it up, and it was found in every 

 respect to resemble the other*. 



A* one 1'iche, a wire-manufacturer in the village of 

 Aunees, was working with his men in the open air, a 

 (tone grazed hi* arm, and fell at his feet ; but it was 

 so hot, that, on attempting to uke it up, he instantly 



the inhabitants, who had all beard the explosion on the 

 day and at the hour specified ; and almost all the resi- 

 dents of twenty hamlet* declared, that they were eye- 

 witnesses of a dreadful shower of stones which was 

 darted from the meteor. The summary of the evi- 

 dence which M. Biot collected, may be thus express 

 ed. 



About one o'clock, P. M. the weather being serene, 

 there wa* observed from Caen, Pont-d'Audemer, and 

 the environs of Alrncon, Falaise and Vrrneuil, a fiery 

 globe of uncommon splendour, and which moved in 

 ie atmosphere with great rapidity. Some moments 

 after, there was heard st L'Aigle, and for thirty leagues 

 round in every direction, a violent explosion, which 

 lasted five or six minutes. Three or four reports, like 

 those of cannon, were followed by kind of discharge, 

 which resembled the firing of musketry; after whi> h, 

 there wa* heard dreadful rumbling, like the beating 

 of a drum. The air was calm, and the sky serene, 

 with the exception of a few cloud*, such a* are com- 

 monly observed at that season. The noise proceeded 

 from a small cloud which had a rectangular form, the 

 largest side being in a direction from east to wot. It 

 appeared motionless all h tim that the phenomenon 

 lasted ; but the vapour* of which it wa* composed were 

 projected momentarily from different tide*, by the ef- 

 fect of the successive explosions. Thi* cloud was about 

 half a league to the north north-west of the town of 

 _-!e, and at a greafelevation in the atmosphere ; 

 for the inhabitant* of two hamlet*, a league distant 

 from each other, saw it at the same time above their 

 beads. In the whole district over which this cloud 

 was suspended, there was beard a hissing noise like 

 that of a stone discharged from a sling ; and a great 

 many mineral masses, exactly similar to those distin- 

 guished by the name of meteor-tluna, were seen to 

 fall. 



The portion of country in which these masse* were 

 protected, forms an elliptical extant of nearly two league* 

 and a half in length, and nearly one in breadth, the 

 greatest dimension being in a direction from south-east 

 to north-west, forming a declination of about 22 de- 

 gree*. Thi* direction, which the meteor must have 

 followed, i* exactly that of the magnetic meridian. 

 which i a remarkable result The greatest of the 

 stones fell st the south-eastern extremity of the large 

 axis of the ellipse, the middle-sized in the centre, and 

 the smallest at the north-western extremity. Hence it 

 appfan that the largi -t foil first, a* might be naturally 

 sup posed. The Urgtst of all Uiosc which fell weighed 



toi_ ziv. r JUIT >. 



He who compares the various accounts of the L'Ai- 

 gle meteor with a critical eye, may, no doubt, detect 

 some apparent contradictions, but which, on reflection, 

 will be found strictly conformable to truth. Thus, ac- 

 cording to some, the meteor had a rapid motion, other* 

 believed it to be stationary ; some naw a very luminous 

 ball of fire, and other* only an ordinary cloud. Spec- 

 tators, in fact, viewed it in different position* with re- 

 gard to it* direction ; for they who happened to be in 

 the line of its progress would see it stationary, for the 

 that we fancy a ship under full sail to be 



when we are placed in it* wake, or when we 

 view it from a harbour to which it is approaching in a 

 straight line ; they, on the other hand, who had a aide 

 view of it, would reckon it* motion the more rapid as 

 their position approached to a right angle with the line 

 of its passage, while they who saw it from behind, as 

 the inhabitants of L'Aigle, would perceive only the 

 cloud of vapour which it left in its train, and which, in 

 the shade, would figure like a blazing tail, in the same 

 manner as the smoke of a volcano appear* black dur- 

 ing the day and red at night ; lastly, they who were 

 placed in front of the meteor would reckon it station* 

 ary, but brilliant and cloudless. 



It deserves to be remarked, that most of the stones, 

 for some days after their descent, were very friable ; 

 that they gradually acnuired hardness ; snd that, after 

 they had lost the sulphureous odour on their surface, 

 tney still retained it in their substance, a* wa* disco- 

 vered by breaking them. Professor S*ge submitted 

 them to several comparative trial* with those of Ville- 

 franche ; artd, although the L'Aigle specimens present- 

 ed some globules of the size of a small coriander seed, 

 of a darker grey than the mass, and not attractable by 

 the magnet, yet, in respect of granular texture and ge- 

 neral peet, the coincidence was so striking as to lead 

 one to tuppose that they were all parts of the same 

 mass, According to Fourcroy, who was also furnish- 

 ed with documents and specimen*, most of the L'Aigle 

 stones were irregular, polygonal, often cuboid, some- 

 time* sub-cuneiform, and exceedingly various in their 

 diameter and weight They were all, he observes, co- 

 vered with a black gravelly crust, consisting "fa fused 

 matter, and filled with (mail agglutinated grains of iron. 

 The greater part of them were broken at the corners, ei- 

 tlur by their shock against one another, or i,y falling on 

 hard bodies. The interior parts rcseml !'! those of 

 all the meteorites analysed by MOST*. Howard and 

 Vauquelin, being grey, somewhat varied in their shad- 

 ing-, granulated, UK! as it were scaly, split in many 



