2553 SCIENTiriG KEW»^ 



/• -. -■ t^rediy, will not decompose this eaU : and why, on the othef 



' ■ ■' hand; hidro-ea so easily effects the rediirtiod of the metal. 



and with 003 The pvoportions assigned by Mr. Curaudau to the muriatic 



cf hidropen ^^.j j ^^^ ^^^ .^ ^f Iiidrogeii lo thirlyrthrefi_D£..i)xina.urialic 



com poses -mu- - ^ a ■ ..... * .. - _ 



liatic acid. gas. ' 



Three meteoric On the 23d of November^ 1810, at'half after one in the 

 afternoon, three atmospheric stones fell in the conimui^e of 

 Charsottville, canton of Meung, departitoent of the Loiret. 

 Their tall was accorapauied by a sa'ies of detonations, 

 which preceded it, and lasted some rainutes, Thefebund 

 of the explosions, to the number of thi-ee or four, folJoWed 

 by a rumbling noise occasioned by the echoes, was heard asr- 

 loud at Orleans as at the place where the stones fell. It is' 

 said it was equally loud at Montargis, Salbri, Vierzon, arid 

 Blois, at all which places it excited alarm, being supposed 

 to arise from the blowing up of a powder magazine. The* 

 explosions must therefore have taken place at a greait' 

 height. 

 Circwrastances "^^^ ^'^^^ ^^ these stones was perpendicular ; and without 

 of their fall, the appearance of any light, or ball of fire. One fell at 

 Montelle but has not been found. The other two fell one 

 at Villenai, the other at Moulin Brule. All these places are 

 within the distance of a mile. One of the stones weighed 

 about twenty pounds; it made a hole in the ground just 

 large enough for its admission, in a per()endicular direction, 

 driving up the earth to the height of eight or t-en feet. 

 The stone was taken out half" an hour-afterward, when rt 

 was still so hot, that it could scarcely be held in the hatids. 

 It had a strong Sinell of gunpovrder, whicli it retained till 

 it was quite cold. The secoiid stoiie formed a similar hole 

 three fett deep. It w'ighed Torty pounds, and was not' 

 taken out of the ground for eighteen hours after its fall, 

 when it was without heat. 

 The stones de- ■ These stooes were both shapeleo masses, irreguldrly 

 scnbed, rounded at aU their 'ugles. They contain rather more fer- 



ruginous g! >L)sdeb, than those that fell at TAigle, in Nor- 

 niandj' ; theise globules are somewhat larger; and the co- 

 lour of the stone, whvn broken, is lighter. They are 

 quickly oxide<l, very heav)', sutficienlly hard to scratch' 

 glas», broken with difficulty, and the fracture is irrdgtfl»i* 



and 



