ANALYSIS OF SOME AEROLITES. 22^ 



The country where these stones fell is a plain, extending The place 

 soutl.wartl to the Elbe. The soil is a poor dry sand, fit only ^^^^cribed. 

 'Tor rye; and the rocks that are found there are of an argij- 

 ' laceous gritstone impregnated with iron. The field on 

 ^tvh'ch one of the stones fell was a very loose sand, that had 

 'jost been ploughed up ; yet the stone penetrated into it only 

 four inches. The second fell in an adjoining field, the 

 soil of which was rather harder, and more clayey; yet it 

 penetrated only four or five inches. The third fell in a 

 small wood of fir trees, on a sandy ground covered here and / 



there with turf, and likewise made an impression four or 

 five inches deep, The fourth, which was found about two 

 "^thousand paces fiom the village of Straton, weighed two 

 pounds and a quarter ; but one corner was broken off, with- 

 out the inquirer's being able to learn how. The third stone^ 

 that fell in the wood, weighed five pounds nine ounces and 

 hall', though all its angles and edges had been damaged. 

 The direction in which these stones fell was from the 

 north. 



The circumstances, that accompanied this fall of stones, Circumstanc# 

 were nearly the same, as have been observed in other places. thefdU. 

 On Saturday the 3d of September, 1808, at half after three 

 o'clock in the afternoon, a loud explosion was heard, which 

 all the witnesses compared to a discharge of several pieces of 

 cannon, succeeded by a noise like that of firing by compa- 

 nies, or the roll of drums. This noise continued a full 

 quarter. Or even near half an hour. The sky, which had 

 been very clear, appeared covered as with a slight gauze ; 

 yet the rays of the Sun penetrated easily through this sort 

 of thin mist. The night preceding had been fine, calm, 

 and very clear; the weather had been fine the whole day, 

 except about noon, when a few drops of rain fell, but the 

 clouds dispersed ; aoi nbout three o'clock in the afternoon v 



the heat was considerable, and the weather heavy flourdj. 



No person saw these stones fall, so. that we know not 

 whether they were black, or red, or smoking, when they fell ; 

 but some reapers, who took up one as soon as it had fallen, 

 found it as cold as the stones around. It did not soil the 

 fingers, and none of them had any smell of sulphur. No 

 person observed any lightning, or luminous meteor; neitheir 

 Vol. XXXI March 1812. Q raia 



