Dr. Walter Fligh t— On Meteorites. 2 1 7 



states that the 13th October was fine, and the sky clear, and that 

 about two in the afternoon a noise as of thunder was heard resem- 

 bling batteries of cannon firing briskly. The sound was followed 

 by a violent concussion of the air, and then a number of aerolites 

 were strewn over the adjacent region. One, weighing 10 okas (22|- 

 Austrian pounds), fell in front of a house in Soko-Banja, and was 

 driven deep into the earth ; a second, which touched the gi-ound at 

 Scherbanowaz, near the Etanj Berg, weighed 30 okas (67^ Austrian 

 pounds), and is the largest mass which was collected. The peasants 

 at Etanj state that one which fell in that locality was of the size of 

 a sack of flour, and that by striking the rocky surface it was dashed 

 to fragments, from the second and later report, provided by Eitter 

 von Stefanowitsch, of an inquiry instituted by some scientific men 

 from Belgrade, it appears that two explosions like salvoes of artillery 

 were heard, accompanied by a brilliant display of light such as 

 attends the bursting of shells. A dense black smoke was observed 

 at a considerable altitude, which broke up into three columns, and 

 gradually changed to a white smoke. The noise lasted for some 

 time, and then the sound resembled the firing of musketry. The air 

 appeared to be shaken. Soon after the explosion commenced a 

 number of meteorites fell to the ground over an area a mile and 

 a half in length and half a mile in breadth. The following masses 

 have been collected : — 



1. One, weighing 23 okas, fell in the village of Scherbanowaz, 

 and penetrated the soil to the depth of four feet. (This is the one 

 mentioned in " Javor.") 



2. One, weighing 15 okas, fell near the vineyard at Soko-Banja, 

 and reached a depth, of three feet. This appears not to be the mass 

 referred to in "Javor.'-' 



3. Two stones found at Blandija. 



4. A fragment, weighing 2 okas, was found at Prevalac. 



5. A meteorite of small size fell at Gradic (Prevalac and Gradic 

 are hamlets, west of and close to Soko-Banja). 



6. A number of pieces of various sizes fell at Dugopolje, and 

 several very small stones are reported to have fallen on the Djeviza 

 Planina. 



One fragment, 2 okas in weight, fell on a pear tree, and then 

 descended to the ground ; a man who was under the tree took it in 

 his hands, and received the imjjression that the mass was still warm. 



The meteorites were sent to the Natural History Museum at 

 Belgrade. Doll's paper contains two little maps indicating the area 

 over which, the stones were strewn. He describes a small specimen 

 which came into his possession : the matrix is bluish grey and com- 

 pact, inclosing spherules which vary in size from that of a millet- 

 seed to that of a hare-shot, and which project from the fractured 

 surface. But little nickel-iron or magnetic pyrites (troilite ?) could 

 be seen. He noticed patches of a brown colour, which he considers 

 characteristic of this meteorite. 



Losanitch, in his communication to the Berlin Chemical Society, 

 which appeared subsequently, states that an interval of 25 seconds 



