been advanced. It was first supposed that the bodies in question had been thrown out of volcanoes; but the immeuse distance from all volcanoes at which they have been found, and the absence of all similar stones from volcanic productions, render this opinion untenable. Chladni endeavoured to prove that the meteors from which they fell were bodies floating in space, unconnected with auy planetary system, attracted by the earth in their progress, and kindled by their rapid motion through the atmosphere. But this opinion is not susceptible of any direct evidence, and can scarcely be believed, one would think, even by Dr. Chladni himself. La Place suggests the probability of their having been thrown off by the volcanoes of the moon: But the meteors which almost always accompany them, and the swiftuess of their horizontal motion, mili tate too strongly against this opinion. The greatest number of philosophers consider them, with Mr. King and Sir William Hamil. ton, as concretions actually formed in the atmosphere. This opinion is undoubtedly the most probable of all; but in the present state of our knowledge, it would be absurd to attempt any explanation of the manner in which they are formed. The masses of native iron found in South America, in Siberia, and near Agnam, contaiu nickel, as has been ascertained by Proust, Howard, and Klaproth, and resemble exactly the iron found in the stones fallen from the atmosphere. We have every reason therefore to ascribe to them the same original: aud this accordingly is almost the uniform opinion of philosophers. Klaproth hath shown that real native iron is distinguished from meteoric iron by the absence of nickel *. [Good's Lucretius. Thomson's Chemistry.

2. Lunar or Selenitic Origin of Meteoric Stones.

THE best and fullest examination which has yet occurred to us upon this curious subject, is contained in a long and interesting original note of the Editors of the Philosophical Transactions Abridged," appended to Dr. Halley's paper on Meteors, or lights

Gehlen's Jour. i. 8.

This closing remark is a strong proof of the difference between the two, and the article which immediately follows is sufficient to show that the ingenious chemist is in an error, in conceiving that the hypothesis to which he seems to incline is "almost the uniform opinion of philosophers."

[EDITOR.

in the sky, published in vol. xxix. of the Transactions at large. The note is as follows:

Dr. Halley's mind fixes on nothing but vapour or exhalations, to solve the appearance; though the difficulty, not to say impossi bility, of conceiving how any exhalations could be raised so high, ought to have hinted the idea of some other origin. Later obser. vations however have induced a belief, that these luminous appear. ances are allied to, if not the same as, the stones which have fre. quently been known to fall from the atmosphere, at different times, and in all parts of the earth. Several of the phænomena are common to both. These luminous bodies are seen to move with very great velocities, in oblique directions descending; commonly with a loud hissing noise, resembling that of a mortar shell, or cannon ball, or rather that of an irregular hard mass projected violently through the air; surrounded by a blaze or flame, tapering off to a narrow stream in the hinder part of it; are heard to explode or burst, and seen to fly in pieces, the larger parts going foremost, and the smaller following in succession; are thus seen to fall on the earth, and strike it with great violence; that on examining the place of the fall, the parts are found scattered about, being still considerably warm, and most of them entered the earth several inches deep. After so many facts and concurring circumstances, it is difficult to refuse assent to the identity of the two phænomena: indeed it seems now not to be doubted, but generally acquiesced in. And hence it is concluded, that every such meteorlike appearance is attended by the fall of a stone, or of stones, though we do not always see the place of the fall, nor discover the stones.

This conclusion, however, has contributed nothing towards dis. covering the origin of the phenomenon, at least as to its genera tion in the atmosphere: on the contrary, it seems still more difficult to account for the production of stones, than gaseous meteors, in the atmosphere, as well as to inflame and give them such violent motion. In fact, it seems concluded as a thing impossible to be done, or conceived; and philosophers have given up the idea as hopeless. This circumstance has induced them to endeavour to discover some other cause or origin for these phænomena. But no idea that is probable, or even possible, has yet been started; excepting one, by the very celebrated mathematician La Place, and

that of so extraordinary a nature, as to astonish us with its novelty and boldness of conception. This is no less than the conjecture, that these stony masses are projected from the moon! a conjecture which none but an astronomer could have made, or at least have shown to be probable, or even possible. Any ordinary person might at random utter the vague expression of a thing coming from the moon: but no one, except the philosopher, could propose the conjecture seriously, and prove its possibility. This M. La Place has been enabled to do by strict mathematical calculation. He has proved that a mass, if projected by a volcano from the moon, with a certain velocity, of about a mile and half per second, (which is possible to be done) it will thence be thrown beyond the sphere of the moon's attraction, and into the confines of the earth's; the consequence of which is, that the mass must presently fall to the earth, and become a part of it.

To prepare the way for a calculation, and a comparison of this supposed cause with the phænomena, it will be useful here to premise a short account of the late and best observed circumstances in the appearance of fireballs, and the fall of stony masses from the atmosphere, extracted from the last published accounts of some of the more remarkable cases.

It is remarkable how generally the tradition has prevailed, in almost all ages, and among all people, of the fall of solid materials from the atmosphere, under the various denominations of thunder. bolts, showers of stones, masses of native iron, &c. generally believed by the common people; who had often witnessed the fact, as coming from the sky or the heavens, and thence ascribed to the miraculous judgments of the Deity; while they were as generally disbelieved by the philosophers, either because they had never seen them fall, or because they found it impossible to account for the cause of them.

In the later ages of the world, however, the fact has been observed by more respectable evidences, and recorded with circumstances of considerable accuracy. One instance of this kind, is that given by the celebrated astronomer Gassendi, who was an eye. witness of what he relates. November 27, 1627, the sky being quite clear, he saw a burning stone fall on mount Vaisir, in the south-east extremity of France, near the city of Nice, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. While in the air, it seemed to be

about four feet in diameter; it was inclosed in a luminous circle of colours like a rainbow; and in its fall it produced a sound like the discharge of cannon. It weighed 591b., was very hard, of a dull metallic colour, and in specific gravity considerably more than that of marble.

Prior to this, is another remarkable instance in the stone that fell near Ensisheim, a considerable town in Alsace, the north-east point of France, near the upper Rhine, a little north of Basil. This was in 1492, November 7, between eleven and twelve before noon, when a dreadful thunder-clap was heard at Ensisheim, and a child saw a huge stone fall on a field lately sowed with wheat. On the people going to the place, the hole was found, and digging out the stone, it was found to have entered three feet deep, and weighed 260lb., which makes its size equal to a cube of about thirteen inches the side. No doubt has ever been entertained of this fact; and cotemporary writers all agree in its general belief by the neighbourhood, and the natives of the place must have known that in their wheat field no such stone or hole had formerly existed.

In the year 1672, two stones fell near Verona, in Italy, the one weighing 300, the other 200lb. Soon after, one of the mem. bers of the Abbé Bourdelot's academy presented, at one of their meetings, a specimen of these two stones; stating, that the phenomenon had been seen by 300 or 400 persons; that the stones fell in a sloping direction, during the night, and in calm weather; that they appeared to burn, fell with great noise, and ploughed up the ground. It is a pity the record does not mention the bearing of their path, as to the point of the compass.

It is related by Paul Lucas, the traveller, that when he was at Larissa, a town in Greece, near the gulph of Salonica, a stone of 721b. weight fell in the neighbourhood. It was observed to come from the northward, with a loud hissing noise, and seemed to be enveloped in a small cloud, which exploded when the stone fell. It looked like iron dross, and smelled of sulphur.

In September, 1753, several stones fell, accompanied with loud noises, in the province of Bresse, a little west from Geneva; particularly one fell at Pont-de-Vesle, and one at Liponas, at nine miles distance from each other. The sky was clear, and the wea. ther warm. A loud noise and hissing sound were heard at those two places, and for many miles round, at the time the stones fell.

The stones appeared exactly similar to each other, of a darkish dull colour, very heavy, and their surface showing as if they had suffered a violent degree of heat. The largest weighed about 20lb., and penetrated about six inches into the ploughed ground, a circumstance which renders it highly improbable that they could have existed there before the explosion. This phenomenon has been described by the astronomer Delalande, who seems to have carefully examined, on the spot, the truth of the circumstances he describes.

In the year 1768, three stones were presented to the Academy of Sciences at Paris, which had fallen in different parts of France; one at Lucé, in the Maine; another at Aire, in Artois; and the third in Cotentin. These were all externally of the very same appearance; and Messrs. Fougeraux, Cadet, and Lavoisier, drew up a particular report on the first of them. They state, that on the 18th of September, 1768, between four and five, afternoon, there was seen near the village of Lucé, in Le Maine, a cloud, in which a short explosion took place, followed by a hissing noise, but without any flame; that some persons about ten miles from Lucé heard the same sound; looking upwards, they perceived an opaque body describing a curve line in the air, and fall on a piece of green turf near the high road; that they immediately ran to this place, where they found a kind of stone, half buried in the earth, extremely hot, and weighing about 741b.

July 24, 1790, between nine and ten at night, a shower of stones fell near Agen, in Guienne, near the south-west angle of France. First, a luminous ball of fire was seen, traversing the atmosphere with great rapidity, and leaving behind it a train of light which lasted about fifty seconds; soon a loud explosion was heard, and sparks were seen flying off in all directions. This was soon after followed by the fall of stones, over a considerable extent of ground, and at various distances from each other. These were all alike in appearance, but of many different sizes, the greater number weighing about two ounces, but many a vast deal more: some fell with a hissing noise, and entered the ground, but the smaller ones remained on the surface. The snower did no considerable damage, only breaking the tiles of some houses. All this was attested in a process.verbal, signed by the magistrates of the municipality: it was further substantiated by the testimony of