124 Aereolites with Low Velocities. 



plete arrc station of a mass of iron having such a propulsive force 

 would raise its temperature a million degrees, of which the 

 greater part would be lost by radiation and contact with the 

 air. "It is supposed/' he adds, "that a black crust invariably 

 found in aerolites is the effect of fusion resulting from the fric- 

 tion of the air. The strong detonations have been attributed 

 to the explosion of the aerolites in consequence of the great 

 tension resulting from the colduess of their interior, and the 

 heat of their exterior portions." If these theories were accepted, 

 he points out that, it would be necessary to assign to all aero- 

 lites having a black glazed surface and experiencing detonation, 

 a velocity sufficient to fuse their external parts. In the case of 

 the aerolites of Tourinncs he affirms that the velocity was very 

 moderate — certainly less than that of cannon-shot. In proof 

 of this he remarks, that when a body advances with great velocity 

 its form cannot be seen, while at Tourinncs those who saw the 

 aerolite agree that it looked like an elongated cylinder. 



The second proof of small velocity he derives from the fact 

 that persons who heard the explosions had time to get out of 

 their houses and look at the aerolite before it fell. Thus it 

 could not have advanced as quickly as the sound travelled. In 

 the case of the aerolite of Ormes, a mason assured him that the 

 fragments of the stone bumped from branch to branch of the 

 tree on which they fell. At Tourinncs " the second stone, sup- 

 posed to have weighed six or seven kilogrammes, struck a young 

 hr about eight centimetres in diameter ; and although its trunk 

 was completely flattened by the force of the blow, it was neither 

 cut through nor penetrated by the great projectile, the force of 

 which appears to have been completely deadened, as the stone 

 was found half buried in sandy soil less than a metre to the 

 right of the tree." 



The heat of a portion of one of these aerolites, picked up 

 immediately after its fall, was estimated at 50° Cent. 



It will be interesting to see what comments astronomers 

 and physicists will make upon these curious observations. 



