20 Dr. Walter Flight — History of Meteorites. 



It was noticed that the stones found in the same district with the 

 carbonaceous mass were, as a rule, quite round, and covered on all 

 sides with a black, dull, and often sponge-like, crust. The iron 

 particles on the surface of the smaller stones were usually quite 

 bright and unoxidized, as would be the case if the stone had been 

 heated in a reducing atmosphere. Nordenskjold believes that the 

 carbon compound frequently, perhaps always, occurs in association 

 with meteorites, and he attributes its preservation at Hessle to the 

 fact of the stones having fallen on snow-covered ground. — The paper 

 is illustrated by a map of the district, indicating the exact points 

 where the larger masses descended. 



1869, May 5th, 6.32 p.m. — Krahenberg, near Zweibrucken, Rhenish 



Bavaria. 1 



A single stone was seen to fall, the sky being clear and bright. The 

 noise of the explosion is described as having been louder than that 

 of a cannon ; this was followed by one resembling a roll of musketry, 

 terminating with a sound as of the rushing of steam from a loco- 

 motive ; the tone of the last sound increased in pitch, and abruptly 

 ended with another loud noise. Although no luminous phenomena 

 were observed at Krahenberg, a meteor was seen at Bingen, Speyer, 

 Neuweiler, in Alsace, and in other parts, which observers agree in 

 describing as emitting an intensely white light ; one witness, who 

 saw it in the zenith, states that the light was bluish. The inclination 

 of the path of the meteor to the horizon is computed to have been 

 82°. From observations, made independently by two witnesses, it 

 appears that this meteor came from the point in the heavens, 82° 

 North Polar Distance and 190° Eight Ascension. In the Atlas of 

 Meteors (British Association) there is given a radiant point (85° 

 N.P.D. and 189° E.A.) for the epoch of 2nd April to 4th May, and 

 which is indicated as one of those that are " well-defined." It 

 appears, then, to be highly probable that the Krahenberg meteorite, 

 while traversing its cosmical path, belonged to the meteor shower, 

 the radiant point of which lies near $ Virginis. 



Vom Kath states that the stone fell from a small cloud. A little 

 girl was within a few paces of the spot where it struck the earth, on 

 the slope of a hill facing the S.E. ; it entered the ground to a depth of 

 from three to four feet, making a perfectly vertical hole. It was 

 soon dug out, and when brought to the village was warm, but not hot. 



The stone is of the form of a flattened spheroid, and weighed, 

 when entire, about 331bs. The crust is about 0*5 mm. thick, and 

 though in most parts black, some portions possess the peculiarly 

 reddish-brown colour noticed on the Pultusk stones. The specific 

 gravity of the stone, free from crust, is 3*497; that of the crust is 



1 0. Buchner. Fogg. Ann., cxxxvii , 176. — G. vom Bath. Fogg. Ann., cxxxvii., 

 328. — C. E. "Weiss. Fogg. Ann., cxxxvii., 617. — G. Neumayer. Sitzber. Wien. 

 Ahnd., lx., 229. — P. Beinsch. Lithographic "Suite Mikroscopischer Fraeparate" 

 of this Meteorite, issued March, 1872; and Tageblatt 45, Versammlung der Natur- 

 f or &cher in Leipzig, 1872, 132. 



