134 



METEORITE. 



On ship 

 board. 



Catwelt 

 county. 



Meteorite, lour, and granular texture, traversed in every direc- 

 '"'V"' tion, by small veins, and speckled with minute disse- 

 minated globules. Their specific gravity is stated at 

 3.56, and Klaproth found them to contain, 



Silica 43 



Alumina, . . , 1.25 



Lime, 0.50 



Magnesia, ... 22 



Iron, 29 



Nickel, .... 0.50 



Manganese, . . 0.25 



Sulphur, a trace 



96.50 



All the iron contained in the specimen submitted to 

 trial, appeared to be in the metallic state. The pecu- 

 liarities attending this case, are, detonation without 

 any luminous meteor, the very moderate impetus of the 

 falling bodies, and their want of sensible heat. 



June 17, 1809- A stone, weighing six ounces, fell 

 on board an American vessel, in Lat. 30, 65'. N. and 

 Long. 70, 25'. W. Medic. Repos. Bibliot. Britan. 



January 30, 1810. At two o'clock, P.M. a fall of 

 meteorites occurred in Caswell county, North Ame- 

 rica. Their descent was visible for a considerable 

 distance round ; and two reports were distinctly heard 

 at Hillsborough, thirty miles from the spot where the 

 fall took place. One of the fragments, weighing a 

 pound and three quarters, struck a tree near the place 

 where some woodcutters were at work, but who ran 

 home, without ever once looking behind them. En- 

 couraged, however, by a woman, whose curiosity was 

 superior to her fears, they returned with her, and found 

 the stone, which was still hot. It is vaguely said to have 

 been of a dark-brown colour, and porous. Phil. Mag. 

 vol. xxxvi. 



July, 1810. A letter from Futty-Ghur, in the East 

 Indies, dated July 21st, presents us with the following 

 imperfect, but curious account of the phenomenon 

 which we have been considering. " I open this letter 

 to let you know of a very odd circumstance which hap- 

 pened a few days ago, viz. A large ball of fire fell 

 from the clouds, which has burned five villages, de- 

 stroyed the crops, and some men and women. This 

 Shahabad. happened near Shahabad, across the Ganges, about 

 thirty miles northward from this place. I have heard 

 nothing further about this but a vague report." 



August 10, 1810. In this stage of our historical 

 record, it will be proper to insert the ensuing letter 

 from Maurice Crosbie Moore, Esq. to William Higgins, 

 Esq. 



" SIR, I had the honour of receiving a letter, re- 

 questing from me the particulars respecting a meteoric 

 Tipperar stone that fell near my house, in the county of Tippe- 

 rary, and which a short time ago I did myself the 

 pleasure of presenting to the Dublin Society. The 

 particulars are as follow : Early last August, between 

 eleven and twelve o'clock in the morning, I went from 

 Moore's Fort to Limerick ; the day was dark and sul- 

 try. I returned in a few days, and was immediately 

 informed by my steward and butler, that a most won- 

 derful phenomenon had occurred very soon after my 

 departure ; they produced the stone, and gave the fol- 

 lowing account of the occurrence: There had been thun- 

 der ; some workmen, who were laying lead along the 

 gutters of my house, were suddenly astonished at hear- 

 ing a whistling noise in the air ; one said, ' The chimney 

 is on fire ;' another said, ' It proceeds from a swarm of 

 bees in the air.' On looking up, they observed a small 



black cloud very low, carried by a different current of Meteorite, 

 air from the mass of clouds, from whence they ima- ( *^v^' 

 gined this stone to have proceeded; it flew with the 

 greatest velocity over their heads, and fell in a field, 

 about three hundred yards from the house: they saw 

 it fall. It was immediately dug up, and taken into 

 the steward's office, where it remained two hours cool- 

 ing before it could be handled. This account I have 

 had from many who were present, and agree in the one 

 story. I saw, myself, the hole the stone made in the 

 ground ; it was not more than a foot in depth," &c. 



This stone was not injured by the fall, and was of a 

 somewhat cubical shape, with the angles and edges of 

 two sides rounded : the other two opposite sides ex- 

 hibited a very uneven surface, occasioned by depres- 

 sions and prominences, as if a part had been broken 

 previous to the heat to which it must have been ex- 

 posed before its fall. It weighed seven pounds and 

 three quarters ; and the entire surface was covered 

 with a brownish-black, thin crust, evidently the effect 

 of fusion, by an intense and rapid heat. On inspection 

 of its internal texture, there were distinguable, 1. Dark- 

 grey particles of malleable iron, without any regular 

 shape, of unequal magnitude, numerously dispersed, 

 and rendered bright when rubbed with a file ; 2. Some 

 very small bright particles of iron ; 3. Particles of mar- 

 tial pyrites, of various colours, some being reddish-yel- 

 low, some yellowish-white, and a very few of a pur- 

 plish tinge ; 4. A very few round globules, about the 

 size of mustard-seed, of a greyish-brown, readily yield- 

 ing to the file, and seeming to contain no metallic mat- 

 ter. These several materials are cemented by a whit- 

 ish-grey earthy substance, while minute yellowish 

 brown spots, very close to one another, and proceeding 

 from oxyd of iron, are disseminated in the mass. Ac- 

 cording to Mr. Higgins, its specific gravity is 3670; 

 and its analysis gave, in one instance, 



Silica, . . 48.25 



Magnesia, . 9 



Iron, . . 39 



Nickel, . 1.75 



Sulphur, . 4 



and, in another, Silica, 



Magnesia, 

 Iron, 

 Nickel, 

 Sulphur, 



105.75 



the excess being attributable to the absorption of oxy- 

 gen by the metallic bodies. 



November 23, 1810. At half after one o'clock, P.M. 

 three stones fell in the commune of Charsonville, in charson- 

 the department of the Loiret, and neighbourhood of ville. 

 Orleans. Their fall was accompanied by a series of 

 detonations, which lasted some minutes, and which, 

 along with the reverberations from the echoes, were 

 heard as loud at Orleans, ' Montargis, Salbri, Vierzon, 

 and Blois, as at the place where the stones fell, excit- 

 ing alarm from the apprehension of the blowing up of 

 a powder magazine. These stones were precipitated 

 perpendicularly, and without the appearance of any 

 light or ball of fire. One of them took the ground at 

 Montelle, but was never discovered ; and, of the other 

 two, one fell at Villenoi, and the other at Moulin- 



