* 



9 



or rather inclining from the west downwards to the east, at 

 the bottom , about 18 inches deep. The overseer felt some- 

 thing hard, but was not able to move it with his hand : he 

 therefore caused it to be dug out ; and it proved to be the 

 same substance as that sent from other parts of the world, 

 and said to have been observed under similar circumstances. 



Sir Joseph Banks first observed the similarity of these 

 substances to one another when he went to see the York- 

 shire one exhibited in Piccadilly, and compared it with a 

 fragment of what he had got from Benares; and he was so 

 good as to indulge me with the loan of a very perfect one 

 from L'Aigle to compare with the British one : it was nearly 

 black all over; but a small fragment had been detached, 

 probably to see how it agreed with the others ; which it 

 does in all respects with the Yorkshire and Possil stones, 

 except that the outside is of a purer black, perhaps from its 

 falling in more favourable circumstances. The Yorkshire 

 one fell against a damp chalk rock, and was partly disco- 

 loured by it. The Scottish one seems a little more rusty, 

 and lighter, in the outer coat, the inside somewhat oxidated 

 in spots; the natural effect of its falling through water. I 

 have been favoured by Robert Ferguson, Esq., a friend of 

 Mr. Laing, with another bit from L'Aigle, which is greyer 

 than any others, as it has more iron in it, a largish vein of 

 which forms a sort of reticulation, with a somewhat circular 

 elliptical appearance, like some kind of marble, or irregular 

 meshes. 



The stone which fell December 13, 1803, in Bavaria, on a 

 cottage, is somewhat remarkable for the day and month, 

 agreeing with those of the Yorkshire one; and it is said that 

 the pyrites were of a cubical form. 



It may be a satisfaction to many of our readers to subjoin 

 some account of other stones said to have fallen from the 

 clouds, formerly and in our times, in foreign countries, from 

 Mr. King's ingenious account, especially as they detail par- 



VOL. II. c* 



