OF THE 20TH OF NOVEMBER, 1887. 
61 
for some years to come, at all events, it will be worth while 
examining any peculiar stone found in the districts noted, in case 
it may turn out to be a fragment of the meteorite. 
Appendix. 
It may not be amiss to direct attention to some of the more 
accessible sources of information as to meteorites. I give below a 
few titles and references which may be useful. The article in the 
last edition of the ‘ Encyclopaedia Britannica ’ is probably the 
best exposition of the subject for the general reader. 
It appears from that article that the region of luminous meteors 
may be regarded as being between forty and eighty miles above the 
earth’s surface. Of meteorites which descend deep into the atmo¬ 
spheric envelope of the earth, and even reach its surface, furnishing 
solid fragments, an average of about six to eight per annum has 
been recorded during the last fifty years. Of meteors visible to the 
naked eye it is computed that many millions come into our atmo¬ 
sphere during each day. It is also stated that the average velocity 
of meteorites, as computed from good observations, is nearly thirty 
miles per second. 
The last recorded stone-fall in England is that near Middlesbrough, 
on 14th March, 1881, when a small stone was seen to fall in broad 
daylight, and was picked up. There was a report previous to the 
fall, heard over a considerable area. A very interesting fall, in 
Johnson County, Arkansas, U.S.A., is reported in ‘Nature,’ of 
15th December, 1887. It occurred on 27th March, 1886, and in 
this case also there was a very loud report, heard at great distances 
from the place where the fall occurred. 
References. 
Article “Meteor, Meteorite,” by Professor H. A. Newton, LL.D. 
‘ Encyclopaedia Britannica,’ 9th ed., vol. xvi (1883), p. 107. 
“ Researches on the Spectra of Meteorites. A Report to the 
Solar Physics Committee,” by J. Norman Lockyer, E.R.S. A paper 
read before the Royal Society, Nov. 17, 1887. ‘Proceedings of 
the Royal Society of London,’ vol. xliii (1888), p. 117. See also 
“ Researches on Meteorites,” I. ‘ Nature,’ vol. xxxvii, p. 55 (No. 
942, Nov. 17, 1887); and II. ibid., p. 80 (No. 943, Nov. 24, 1887); 
and “ The Constitution of the Heavenly Bodies,” in ‘ The Times’ 
of Nov. 18, 1887. 
“ An Introduction to the Study of Meteorites, with a List of 
the Meteorites represented in the Collection,” by L. Eletcher. 
British Museum (Natural History), Mineral Department, 1887. The 
following eleven British meteorites are represented in the Collec¬ 
tion, viz. those of:— 
Wold Cottage, Thwing, (Yorkshire) 
High Possil, near Glasgow 
Mooresfort (co. Tipperary) 
Adare, Eaha, etc. (co. Limerick) 
Newstead (Roxburghshire) * 
found in 
See ‘ Brit. Assoc. Report’ for 1863, p. 337. 
date of fall Dec. 13, 1795. 
,, April 5, 1804. 
,, August, 1810. 
Sept. 10, 1813. 
1827. 
