168 
rable dissertation contains, that the stony 
bodies in question really fell from the atmo- 
s jdir re, are quite irresistible. Indeed, their 
external characters and chemical analysis 
would alone decide the point: for it is quite 
inconceivable tnat in India, England, Erance, 
Germany, and Italy, in climates and soils ex- 
ceedingly different from each other, stones 
should have been pointed out which differed 
irom every other mineral in the countries 
where they were found, and which exactly 
‘METEORIC STONES. 
resembled one another, provided these had 
not had the same origin. The chemical ana- 
lysis of Howard was soon after repeated, and 
verified, by Yauquelin and Klaproth. 
Most of the stones which have fallen 
irom the atmosphere have been preceded by 
the appearance of luminous bodies or me- 
teors. These meteors burst with an explo- 
sion, and then the shower of stones fails to j 
the earth. Sometimes the stones continue 
luminous till they sink into the earth ; but 1 
mod commonly their luminousness disap- 
pears at the time of the explosion. These 
meteors move in a direction nearly horizon- 
tal, and they seem to approach the earth be- 
fore they explode. The following table, 
drawn up by Mr. Izarn, exhibits the collec- 
tion of the best-authenticated instances -of 
the failing of stones, & c. irom the atmosphere 
hitherto observed, together with the time 
when they fell, and the persons on whose 
evidence the fact rests. 
Substances. 
Shower of stones 
Shower of stones 
Shower of iron 
Shower of mercury 
A very large stone 
Three large stones 
Shower of fire 
Stone of 72 lbs. 
About 1200 stones — one of 120 lbs. 
Another of 60 lbs. 
Another of 59 lbs. 
Shower of sand for 15 hours 
Shower of sulphur 
Sulphureous rain 
The same ... 
Shower of sulphur 
Ditto of a viscid unknown matter 
Two large stones weighing 20 lbs. 
A stony mass - 
A stone of 74 lbs. 
A stone ... 
A stone - 
Extensive shower of stones 
About 12 stones 
A large stone of 56 lbs. 
A stone of about 20 lbs. 
A stone of 10 lbs. 
Shower of stones 
Shower of stones 
Mass of iron, 70 cubic feet 
Mass of ditto, 14 quintals 
Shower of stones 
Large stone, 260 lbs. 
Two stones, 200 and 300 lbs. - 
A stone of 20 lbs. 
Several ditto, from 10 to 17 lbs. 
Places •where they fell. 
At Rome - 
At Rome - 
In Lucania - 
Tn Italy - 
Near the river Negos, Thrace 
In Thrace - 
At Quesnoy - 
Near Larissa, Macedonia 
Near Padua in Italy 
On Mount Vaiser, Provence - 
In the Atlantic - 
Sodom and Gomorrah 
In the duchy of Mansfeld 
Copenhagen - 
Brunswick - 
Ireland - 
Liponas in Bresse 
Niort, Normandy 
At Luce in Le Maine 
At Aire in Artois 
In Le Cotentin - 
Environs of Agen 
Sienna, Tuscany - 
Wold-Cottage, Yorkshire 
Sale, department of the Rhone 
In Portugal - 
Benares, East Indies 
At Plana, near Tabor, Bohemia 
America - 
Abakank, Siberia 
Barboutan, near Roquefort 
Ensisheim, Upper Rhine 
Near Verona - 
Sales, near Ville-Franche 
Near L’Aigle, Normandy 
Period of their Fall. 
Under Tullus Hostilius 
Consuls C. Martius & M. Torquatus 
Year before the defeat of Crassus 
Second year of the 78th Olympiad 
Year before J. C. 452 
January 4th, 1717 
January 1706 . 
In 1510 - 
November 27th, 1627 
April 6th, 1719 - 
In 1658 - 
In 164 6 .... 
October 1721 - 
In 1695 - 
September 1753 - v 
In .1750 .... 
September 13th, 1763 
In 1763 . 
In 1768 - - . _ • 
July 24th, 1790 - 
July 1794 - . - 
December 13th, 1795 
March 17th, 1793 
February 19th, 1796 
December 19th, 1798 
July 3d, 1753 - 
April 5th, 1800 ... 
Very old - 
July 1789 - - - _ 
November 7th, 1492 
In 1762 - 
March 1 2th, 1798 - 
April 26th, 1803 - 
Testimony. 
Livy 
J. Obsequens 
Pliny 
Dion 
Pliny 
Ch. of Count Marcellia 
Geoffroy le Cadet 
Paul Lucas 
Carden, Varcit 
Gassendi 
Pcre la Feuillee 
Moses ~- 
Spangenberg 
Olaus Wormius 
Siegesber 
Muschenbroeck 
Delalar.de 
Delalande 
Bachelay 
Gurson de Boyaval 
Morand 
St. Amand, Baudin, &.C* 
Earl of Bristol 
Captain Topham 
Lelievre and De Dree 
Southey 
J . Lloyd Williams, Esq. 
B. de Born 
Philosophical Magazine 
Pallas, Chladni, &c. 
Darcet, jun. Lomet, &c, 
Butenschoen 
Acad, de Bourd 
De Drde 
Fourcroy. 
The stony bodies when found are al- 
ways hot. They commonly bury themselves 
some depth under ground. Their size dif- 
fers from a few ounces to several tons. They 
are usually roundish, and always covered 
with a black crust. In many cases they 
smell strongly of sulphur. The black crust, 
from the analysis of Howard, consists chiefly 
of oxide of iron. 
The outer surface of these stones is 
rough. When broken, they appear of an 
ash-grey colour, and of a granular texture 
like a coarse sandstone. When examined 
with a microscope, four different substances 
may be discovered, of which the stone is 
composed: 1st, A number of spherical bo- 
dies, varying' in size from a pin’s head to a pea, 
of a gre} ish-brown colour, opaque, breaking 
easily in every direction, of a compact tex- 
ture, capable of scratching glass, and of giv- 
ing a few feeble sparks with steel. 2d, Frag- 
ments of pyrites of an indeterminate shape, 
of a reddish-yellow colour, granular, and 
easily reduced to powder. The powder has 
a black colour. 3d, Grains of iron in the 
metallic state, scattered like the pyrites 
through the stone, 4th, The three substances 
just mentioned are cemented together by 
a fourth of an earthy consistence, and so soft 
that all the other substances may be easily 
separated by the point of a knife or the nail, 
and the stone itself crumbled to pieces be- 
tween the fingers. This cement is of a grey 
colour. The proportion and size of these 
different constituents vary considerably in 
different specimens ; but all of them bear a 
striking resemblance to each other. Their 
specific gravity varies from 3.352 to 4.28 1. 
From the analysis of Howard, which 
was conducted with much precision and ad- 
dress; and which has been fully confirmed 
by Yauquelin and Klaproth, we learn, that 
the black crust consists of a compound of 
iron and nickel, partly metallic and partly 
oxydized. The pyrites consist of iron, nickel, 
and sulphur. The metallic grains consist of 
iron, combined with about one-third of its 
weight of nickel, and the yellow globules arc 
composed of silica, magnesia, iron, and nickel. 
The count Bournon observes, that these glo- 
bules resemble the chrysolite of Werner, and 
that their chemical analysis corresponds ex- 
actly with Klaproth’s analysis of that mineral. 
I he earthy cement consists of the very same 
substances, and nearly in the same propor- 
tions, as the globular substances. But it will 
be necessary to exhibit a sped men, of some 
of the analyses) as published by the philoso- i 
pliers to whom we are indebted for them. A 
stone which fell at Benares in India, was ana- 
lyzed by Howard. The pyrites consisted of, 
2.0 sulphur 
10.5 iron 
1.0 nickel 
2.0 earths and foreign bodies. 
15.5 
The spherical bodies, 
50.0 silica 
15.0 magnesia 
34.0 oxide of iron 
2.5 oxide of nickel. 
101.5 
The earthy cement, 
45.0 silica 
18.0 magnesia 
34.0 oxide of iron 
2. 5 oxide of nickel. 
102.5 
A stone which fell in Yorkshire, deprived 
as much as possible of its metallic particles 
gave Mr. Howard from 150 grains. 
