Aerolite of Maryland, 351 



Sea (a sea which is 60 or 70 miles in length, and from 10 to 

 20 in breadth (Marcet) ; once the abode of the voluptuous and 

 inhospitable inhabitants of the plain) was anciently a burning 

 volcano. From the heights of Bethlehem, he observed, he 

 says, " a mountain on the western shore of the lake, resem- 

 bling in form the cone of Vesuvius, and having a crater upon 

 its top, which was plainly discernible." If this be the fact, 

 may not the enemies of Moses and of the Bible affirm, that 

 the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah was not 

 a miraculous event, but merely the consequence of a natural 

 and necessary eruption of lava from this mountain ^ 



From the above described specimen?, and from the remarks 

 of travellers which have been quoted, it may, I think, fairly be 

 inferred, that a large proportion of Palestine is of limestone 

 formation. Dr. Clarke asserts, from personal observation, 

 that "the rocks of Jerusalem are all compact limestone;" 

 that the numerous tombs in the neighbourhood of the city 

 " are hewn in a hard compact limestone ;'' that between Na- 

 zareth and Genesaret, he saw hills of the same substance. He 

 speaks often of the " limestone rocks of Judea ;" mentions 

 that the road from Acre to Nazareth passes over "sterile 

 limestone;'' and, indeed, asserts that the prevailing constitu- 

 ent of all the mountains in Palestine is limestone. 



From the specimens in our hands from Bethel, from Jeri- 

 cho, from Capernaum, from Nazareth, from Mount Tabor, 

 Mount Carmel, and from Mount Lebanon, on the north of 

 Jerusalem ; from David's Cave at En-gedi, on the south; and 

 from the mountains around the Dead Sea, on the south-east ; 

 we should be led to the same conclusion : that the Holy Land, 

 the residence of the patriarchs, the birth-place of true reli- 

 gion, the land which witnessed the ministry, listened to the 

 agonies, and drank in the blood of the Son of God, is com- 

 posed almost entirely of limestone. 



AiiT. XXI. — JVotice of a Meteoric Stone^ which fell atJVanje- 

 moy, Maryland, February lOth, 1825 ; by Dr. Samuel D. 

 Carver. ^ 



[Extracted from two letters to the Editor, dated Nanjemoy, Md. March 

 10th, 1825, and April 29th, 1825.] 



I TAKE the liberty of forwarding you a notice of a meteoric 

 stone which fell in this town on the morning of Thursday. 



