23g 
History of 
stones which 
have fallen 
from the air, 
by Albertus 
Magnus and 
others. 
STONES FALLING FROM THE AIR, 
IV. 
Observations on the fall of Stones from the Air, or Aerolites. 
By M. Marcel de Serres*. 
T HE phenomenon of the fall of stones is in itself so singu- 
lar, that we ought not to be surprised, that although it 
had been observed by a number of enlightened metrf. it should 
have been long doubted whether such an event had really taken 
place. The ancients, who were much more credulous than the 
moderns, have almost universally admitted of the fall of aero- 
lites ; but when attempts were made to account for the various 
terrestrial phenomena, the existence of these was totally denied, 
because it was scarcely possible to explain their formation. 
The first natural philosopher who, in modern times, has dis- 
cussed the origin of aerolites, and proved their existence, is 
Albert Groot, or Albertus Magnus, whose numerous writings 
compose near twenty-two volumes in foliof. But from his 
time until Chladni, that is to say, from the thirteenth century 
to our time, naturalists and philosophers have scarcely paid any 
attention to this phenomenon. It has, however, become neces- 
sary to admit their reality, and since this has been verified, 
many writers have mentioned the great number of proofs the 
ancients have left us of their existence§. If the writers who 
* Ann. de Chimie, LXXXV. 262. 
f Pliny speaks of stones fallen from the skies, as having seen them 
himself. Ego vidi ipse in Vocontionumugro, paulo ante delutum. Lib. II. 
caput 60. 
X Albert Groot was born at Lawingen, in Swabia, in the year 1205. 
He was bishop of Ratisbon, and cultivated the sciences with some 
success. His history of animals is remarkable for the time in which 
it appeared, though the main part of the work is borrowed from Aris- 
totle and his commentators, especially Avicenna. 
$ Memoires sur les Aerolithes, par Chladni. Journal des mines, 
tom. XV, XXV, et XXVI. Lithologie atmospheric par M. Izarn. 
Memoire historique et physique sur la chute des pierres, par M. Bigot 
de Morogues., 
have 
