246 



Selections. 



[NO. 2, NEW SERIES 



" In reply to a question I subsequently put to Dr. Shepard as to 

 whether he knew of any examples of meteorites having struck trees 

 in America, he replied as follows : — 



" I think you will find in the volume I left with Mr. Reeks at 

 the Museum, an account of the fall of Little Piney, Missouri, Feb- 

 ruary 13th, 1839 ; in which it is stated that the stone struck a tree 

 and was shattered to fragments, it being one of a brittle character. 

 In the interior of the Cabarras country, N. Carolina, a stone (Oc- 

 tober 31, 1849) I know struck a tree, and I found it was difficult, 

 indeed impossible, to separate completely the adhering woody 

 fibres from the rough hard crust of the meteorite. The stone in 

 this case is a peculiarly tough one, having a decidedly trappean 

 character, rendering it as nearly infragile as cast iron." 



" Aware that some time must elapse before the precise analysis, 

 which I wished to be made in the laboratory of Dr. Percy, could be 

 completed, and that the last meeting of the Royal Society was to 

 be held this evening, I announced the notice I am now communi- 

 cating. At the same time I resolved to visit the locality where the 

 tree stood and to obtain on the spot all the details required. Hav- 

 ing done so, accompanied by Mr. Robert Brown, Sir Philip Grey 

 Egerton, Professor J. Nicol, and Mr. Trenham Reeks, the informa- 

 tion ultimately obtained was as follows : — 



<{ The man who helped to cut down the tree confirmed in every 

 respect the evidence of Mr. Poole as to its position, height and di- 

 mensions, and pointed out to us the stump or stool we were in 

 search of, which is to be seen at nearly 200 yards to the east of 

 the St. George's Chapel, Lower Road, Battersea Fields, and at the 

 eastern end of a nursery garden, between the railway and the road, 

 occupied by Mr. Henry Shailer. 



" The tree was a large willow, probably about sixty years of 

 age, which stood immediately to the east of the old parsonage 

 house recently pulled down. Its stem measured about 10 feet in 

 circumference at 3 feet above the ground, and had a length of be- 

 tween 9 and 10 feet ; from its summit three main branches extend- 

 ed, one of which, pointing to the S. W. or W. S. W. had been for 

 many years blighted, and was rotten to near its junction with the 



