Phenomena of Falling Meteorites .— Farrington . . 83 
It is doubtless possible that sounds like those of an explo¬ 
sion may be generated during the fall of a meteorite without 
any exploding of the meteorite itself. In this case it is import¬ 
ant, of course, to guard against mistaking a similarity of 
sound as evidence of the fact of explosion. But I believe it 
may also be asserted, from evidence so reliable that the nature 
of the occurrence cannot be doubted, that the actual “explos¬ 
ion” or breaking up of meteorites in the air has been seen to 
take place. 
Prof. H. A. Newton, in a lecture on the Relation of Meteor¬ 
ites to Comets, published in Mature (vol. 19, p. 315), men¬ 
tions a number of instances of this kind. The meteorite 
which passed over Illinois, Dec. 21, 1876, was seen b}^ hundreds 
of persons to fly into fragments, lighting up the sky with a 
burst of celestial fireworks. Its passage was accompanied by 
the sound of fearful explosions. The meteor which passed over 
Georgia and Tennessee in 1860 behaved in a similar way. 
Prof. Newton states that the Iowa County meteorite, of Feb. 
12, 1875, was seen to break up in the air and later by one and 
a half to two minutes five quickly recurring reports were 
heard from it. Dr. J. Lawrence Smith states,* from evidence 
gained from eye witnesses of the fall of the Emmet County 
meteorite, May 10, 1879, that “there were distinctly two ex¬ 
plosions. The first took place at a considerable height in the 
atmosphere and several large fragments were projected to 
different points over an area of four square miles, the largest 
mass going farthest to the east. Another explosion occurred, 
just before reaching the ground and this accounts for the small 
fragments found near the largest mass.” At the fall of the 
Fomatlan meteorite Sept. 17, J879,f “many saw and heard the 
explosion. Two or three fragments fell eight miles N. W. of 
Fomatlan between the houses of the Gargantillo farm. The 
main body of the meteorite, which must have been very large, 
continued on its path to the N. W. and fell into a large lagoon 
four or five miles distant from the farm.” 
Two scientific persons commissioned by the Government at 
Pesth to inquire into the circumstances of the meteoric fall at 
Knyahinya, June 9, 1866, reported]; that “at Eperies, fifty-five 
*Am. Jour. Sci., Ill, vol. xix, p. 460. 
tAm. Jour. Sci., Ill, vol. xxx, p. 108. 
j Abstract in Proe. Brit. A. A. S., 1866, p. 133. 
