THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 
315 
Flammarion, in his admirable work on the at¬ 
mosphere, thus describes one of these strange 
visitations: 
“ ‘ The sky was suddenly illuminated by a me¬ 
teor, which looked like a burning ball with a 
long train of fire in its track. It emitted a 
bright light of a pale greenish hue, and lasted 
for six or ten seconds. Its disappearance was 
preceded by an explosion and by the simulta¬ 
neous projection of flaming fragments, while 
there remained for some time after a light and 
whitish cloud. This was followed by a contin¬ 
uous noise, like the distant rolling of thunder, 
then by three or four detonations of extreme 
violence, which were heard at points distant fifty 
miles from each other. Immediately after these 
detonations the inhabitants of Sanguis-Saint- 
Etienne heard a hissing noise, like that made 
by red-hot iron when it is plunged into water; 
then a dull sound, indicating the fall of a solid 
body to the ground. The mass had fallen at 
about thirty yards from the church of Sanguis, 
in the bed of a small stream, and was scattered 
into fragments.’ 
“ One of the largest and most curious aero¬ 
lites is found in the Smithsonian Institution at 
