An Account of a Meteor. 145^ 



hy (he aclual discovery of a mass of thirteen pounds 

 •weight, which had fallen half a mile to the north-east of 

 Mr. Prince's. Having fallen in a ploughed field, with- 

 out coming into contact with a rock, it was broken only 

 into two principal pieces,, one of which, possessing all 

 the characters of the stone in a remarkable degree, we 

 purchased; for it had now become an article of sale. 



Two miles south-east from Mr. Prince's, at the foot of 

 Tashowa Hill, a fifth mass fell. Its fall was distinctly 

 heard by Mr. Ephraim Porter and his famil}'', who live 

 withjp forty rods of the place, and in full view. They 

 saw a smoke rise from the spot, as they did also from 

 the hill, where they are positive that another stone 

 struck, as they heard it distinctly. At the time of the 

 fall, having never heard of an}" such thing, they suppo- 

 sed that lightning had struck the ground, but, after three 

 or four days, hearing of the stones which had been found 

 in their vicinity, they were induced to search, and the 

 result was the discovery of a m^ass of stone in the road, 

 at the place where they supposed the lightning had 

 struck. It penetrated the ground to the depth of two 

 feet in the deepest place ; the hole was about twenty in- 

 ches in diameter, and its margin was coloured blue from 

 the powder of the stone, struck off in its fall. 



It was broken into fragments of moderate size, and 

 from the best calculations niight have weighed 20 or 25 

 pounds. 



The hole exhibited marks of much violence, the turf 

 being very much torn, and thrown about to some dis- 

 tance. 



We searched several hours for the stone, which was 

 heard to fall on the hill, but without success. Since that 

 time, however, it has been discovered. It is unbroken, 

 and exactly corresponds in appearance with the other 

 specimens. It weighs 36-i pounds.* It is probable that 

 the five stones last described v/ere all projected at the 

 second explosion. 



* It has been purchased by Mr. Gibbs, of Newport, Rhode-Island, 

 •who has thus enriched his splendid collection of minerals with the 

 finest meteoric stone which is probably extant. This specimeis 

 abounds so much with iron, that it might almost be denominated 

 an iron ore ; some of the pieces of iron visible on llic surfuci;, ar-c 

 more than an inch long. 



