﻿6 
  H. 
  A. 
  Newton 
  — 
  The 
  Worship 
  of 
  Meteorites. 
  

  

  Yerres, 
  calls 
  upon 
  Ceres, 
  whose 
  statue 
  he 
  says 
  was 
  not 
  made 
  

   by 
  hands 
  but 
  was 
  believed 
  to 
  have 
  fallen 
  from 
  the 
  skies. 
  The 
  

   earliest 
  of 
  the 
  images 
  of 
  Pallas 
  at 
  Athens 
  was 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  had 
  

   a 
  like 
  origin. 
  Pausanias 
  saw 
  at 
  Delphi 
  a 
  stone 
  of 
  moderate 
  

   size 
  which 
  they 
  anointed 
  every 
  day, 
  and 
  covered 
  during 
  every 
  

   festival 
  with 
  new 
  shorn 
  wool. 
  They 
  are 
  of 
  opinion, 
  he 
  add& 
  

   respecting 
  this 
  stone, 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  the 
  one 
  given 
  by 
  Cybele 
  to 
  

   Saturn 
  to 
  swallow 
  as 
  a 
  substitute 
  for 
  the 
  infant 
  Jupiter, 
  which 
  

   Saturn 
  after 
  swallowing 
  vomited 
  out 
  on 
  the 
  earth. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  a 
  marvelous 
  story 
  of 
  a 
  peculiar 
  stone 
  in 
  the 
  poem 
  

   Lithika 
  by 
  the 
  apocryphal 
  Qrpheus. 
  Phoebus 
  Apollo 
  gave 
  the 
  

   stone 
  to 
  the 
  Trojan 
  Helenus, 
  and 
  Helenus 
  used 
  it 
  in 
  soothsay- 
  

   ing. 
  It 
  was 
  called 
  Orites, 
  and 
  by 
  some 
  Siderites. 
  It 
  had 
  

   the 
  faculty 
  of 
  speech, 
  and 
  when 
  Helenus 
  wished 
  to 
  consult 
  it 
  

   he 
  performed 
  special 
  ablutions 
  and 
  fasts 
  for 
  twenty-one 
  days,, 
  

   then 
  made 
  various 
  sacrifices, 
  bathed 
  the 
  stone 
  in 
  a 
  living 
  

   fountain, 
  dressed 
  it 
  and 
  carried 
  it 
  in 
  his 
  bosom. 
  The 
  stone 
  

   now 
  became 
  alive, 
  and 
  to 
  make 
  it 
  speak 
  he 
  would 
  take 
  it 
  in 
  his 
  

   arms 
  and 
  dandle 
  it, 
  when 
  the 
  stone 
  would 
  begin 
  to 
  cry 
  like 
  

   a 
  child 
  for 
  the 
  breast. 
  Helenus 
  would 
  now 
  question 
  the- 
  

   stone, 
  and 
  receive 
  its 
  answers. 
  By 
  means 
  of 
  these 
  he 
  was 
  

   able 
  to 
  foretell 
  the 
  ruin 
  of 
  the 
  Trojan 
  state. 
  Whoever 
  framed 
  

   that 
  story 
  had, 
  I 
  believe, 
  before 
  him 
  a 
  real 
  stone, 
  and 
  the 
  

   description 
  is 
  very 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  meteorite, 
  saying 
  nothing 
  of 
  

   its 
  having 
  come 
  from 
  Apollo. 
  The 
  Orphic 
  writer 
  says 
  that 
  it 
  

   was 
  rough, 
  rounded, 
  heavy, 
  black, 
  and 
  close-grained. 
  Fibers 
  

   like 
  wrinkles 
  w 
  T 
  ere 
  drawn 
  in 
  circular 
  forms 
  over 
  the 
  whole 
  sur- 
  

   face 
  above 
  and 
  below. 
  

  

  Here 
  I 
  show 
  you 
  a 
  stone 
  such 
  as 
  was 
  described 
  — 
  rounded, 
  

   black, 
  heavy, 
  close-grained, 
  and 
  having 
  fibers 
  like 
  wrinkles 
  in 
  

   circular 
  forms 
  over 
  the 
  whole 
  surface 
  above 
  and 
  below. 
  

  

  The 
  name 
  Siderites 
  was 
  at 
  a 
  later 
  date 
  applied 
  to 
  the 
  load- 
  

   stone, 
  but 
  by 
  this 
  writer 
  the 
  two 
  stones 
  are 
  separately 
  described, 
  

   and 
  are 
  apparently 
  distinct. 
  If 
  this 
  name 
  was 
  of 
  Greek 
  

   origin 
  it 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  allied 
  to 
  sideros* 
  iron, 
  and 
  this 
  heavy 
  

   stone, 
  like 
  nearly 
  all 
  meteorites, 
  probably 
  contained 
  iron. 
  If, 
  

   however, 
  this 
  name 
  came 
  from 
  a 
  Latin 
  source 
  (for 
  it 
  is 
  used 
  

   both 
  by 
  Greek 
  and 
  by 
  Latin 
  writers) 
  it 
  has 
  affinities 
  with 
  Sidus,. 
  

   a 
  star, 
  and 
  its 
  meteoric 
  character 
  is 
  still 
  more 
  clearly 
  indicated. 
  

  

  One 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  interesting 
  of 
  the 
  stories 
  about 
  images 
  that 
  

   have 
  fallen 
  from 
  heaven, 
  is 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  that 
  beautiful 
  tragedy 
  

   of 
  Euripides, 
  u 
  Iphigeneia 
  in 
  Tauris." 
  To 
  many 
  of 
  you 
  the 
  

   story 
  is 
  familiar, 
  but 
  it 
  will 
  bear 
  repetition. 
  

  

  The 
  goddess 
  Diana 
  detained 
  at 
  Aulis 
  the 
  Grecian 
  fleets 
  by 
  

   contrary 
  winds, 
  and 
  required 
  the 
  sacrifice 
  of, 
  Iphigeneia, 
  the 
  

   daughter 
  of 
  Agamemnon, 
  before 
  the 
  Greeks 
  could 
  set 
  sail.. 
  

   The 
  father 
  consented 
  ; 
  — 
  and 
  the 
  daughter, 
  apparently 
  sacri- 
  

  

  