Dr. Walter Flight— History of Meteorites. 223 



the grass around it had been somewhat singed ; No. 5, weighing 432 

 grammes, was picked up a week after the fall at Pezza del Meleto : 

 No. 6, weiging 1003 kilog., was found on the 8th May, 200 metres 

 distant from No. 4, at a very trifling depth, while turning up the soil 

 of a field. 



At the time of the fall a man was passing the spot where fragments 

 numbered 4 and 6 were found. Immediately after the explosion, he 

 heard the sound of a heavy body striking the earth, and he fell on 

 the ground with fear. At the same time, or a little later, a fire broke 

 out in a barn filled with hay in the village of Affile, and the occur- 

 rence was, with general consent, ascribed to the meteorite. 



In September, 1873, Keller learnt that two more small fragments 

 had fallen near the village of Anticoli Corradi. The one fell near two 

 boys who were tending cattle. They became alarmed at the hissing 

 noise, and believing this projectile to be aimed by the Devil, they 

 picked it up, and threw it far away from them. The other stone was 

 observed to fall on the bare rock, and to break in pieces. The frag- 

 ments were collected, but as they were held to be of no value, they 

 were subsequently lost. In the case of this aerolite, as in that of 

 others, the smaller appear to have fallen before the larger fragments. 



The velocity of this fall must have been very slow. The authors 

 do not state whether any of the fragments could be fitted together ; 

 their specific gravity ranged between 3*58 and 3*73 — in one, richer 

 in metallic constituents, it amounted to 4-598. Two of the fragments 

 bear portions of the crust lying in pits and hollows. It is only ^ mm. 

 thick, has a pitch-black colour, and exhibits in some places a waxy 

 lustre. The mass of the stone is of a lead grey colour, being darker 

 than that of the aerolites of Pultusk and Monte Milone. A polished 

 surface exhibits metallic grains, some 2 mm. in diameter, and a green 

 silicate, probably olivine. The ground-mass appears to be made up 

 of two minerals, one clear and uniform, the other dull and less 

 homogeneous. The stone acts powerfully on the magnet. 



In Ferrari's memoir is given a plan of the country near Rome, on 

 which is indicated the track of the meteor and the positions where 

 the stones fell. The line of flight, a singularly devious one, is seen 

 to pass immediately over the summits of M. Leano, M. Sempreviso, 

 M. Lapoue, and quite near to that of M. Grennaro, the chief moun- 

 tains of the district, and suggests the gravitating action of these 

 more elevated masses of the earth's surface on "the path of the 

 meteor. A sketch of the latter, the trajectory of which is computed 

 to have been inclined 27° to the plane of the horizon, accompanies 

 the map. 



The paper of M. Le Chevalier Michel-Etienne de Eossi gives the 

 analysis and observations of Prof. Bellucci, of Perugia. When 

 heated to 120° the powdered mineral lost 1-875 per cent, and by 

 treatment with water a little potassium and sodium chloride were 

 dissolved. (Compare with Daubree's examination of the Lance stone, 

 page 220.) The magnet removed 29-04 per cent, and acid 45-04 

 per cent. The analysis of a portion of the stone gave the following 

 numbers : silicic acid = 46-72 ; alumina = 16-84 ; magnesia = 1*97 ; 



