15^ SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



'■i.- ' 



The nolfe proceeded from a fmall cloud which had a r«fl- 

 angular form, the largefi fide being in a direction from eaftto 

 weft. It appeared motionlefs all the time that the phenome- 

 non lafted. But the vapour of which it was compofed was 

 projedled momentarily from the different fides by the effect oi 

 the fuccel)5ve explouons. This cloud was about half a league 

 to the north-norlh-eafl of the town of Laigle ; it was at a 

 great elevation in the atmofphere, for the inhabitants of two 

 hamlets a league diflant from each other faw it at the fame 

 time above their heads. In the whole canton over which this 

 cloud hovered, a hiffing noife like that of a ftone difcharged 

 from a fling was heard, and a multitude of mineral malfes, 

 exadly fimilar to thofe diftingpifhed by the name of meleoric 

 Jinne%, were feen to fall at the fame time. 



The diflricl in which the flones fell forms an elliptical extent 

 of about two leagues and a half in length and nearly one ii^. 

 breadth, the greateft dimenfion being in a diredion from 

 fouth-eafl to north-wefl, forming a declination of about 22°. 

 This dire£l;on which the meteor muft have followed is exactly 

 that of the magnetic meridian ; which is a remarkable refblt. 



The largefl of thefe fiones fell at the fouth-eafl extremity of 

 the large axis of the eliipfe ; the middle-fized ones fell in the 

 centre, and the fmalleft ^t the other extremity. It thereby 

 appears that the largefl fell firfl, as might naturally be fup- 

 pofed. 



The largeft of all thofe which fell weigh 17| pounds. The 

 fmalleft he faw weighed about two gros, which is the thout, 

 fandlh part of the former. The number that fell is certainly 

 above two or three thoufand. They were friable fome days 

 after their fall, and fmelled firongly of folphur. Their prefent 

 hardnefs was acquired gradually. 



AhJiraSt of a Memoir on the Febrifuge Principle of Cinckonat 

 bi/ CiT. Seguin *. 

 THE objeft propofed to himfelf by the author in the (afk 

 he undertook was, to point out the means of knowing with 

 certainty the true febrifuge principle of cinchona, to dif- 

 tinguifli the fpecies that contain it from thofe that do not, an4 

 laflly to appreciate its quantity and quality. 



» Bulletin des Sciences, No. 77« 



Hitherto 



