July 17, 1809. A stone, weighing six ounces, fell on hoard an American vessel, in Lat 3 ° 65' N. and Long. 70°,25'. W. Medic. Rep as. Biblioth. Briton.
January 30, 1810. At two o'clock, P. M. a fall of meteorites occurred in Caswell county, North Ame rica. Their descent was vi,iblc for a considerable distance round ; and two reports were distinctly heard at Hillsborough, thirty miles from the spot where the fall took place. One of the fragments, weighing a pound and three quarters, struck a tree near the place wher- some woodcutters were at work, but who ran home, without ever once looking behind them. En couraged, however, by a woman, whose curiosity was superior to her fears, they returned with her, and found the stone, which was still hot. It is vaguely said to have been of a dark-brown colour, and porous. Phil. Mag. vol. xxxvi.
July, 1810. A letter from Futty-Ghur, in the East Indies, dated July 21st, presents us with the following imperteet, but curious, account of the phenomenon which wa nave been considering. I open this letter to let you know of a very odd circumstance which hap pened a few days ago. viz.—A large ball of fire fell from the clouds, which has burned five villages, de stroyed the crops, and some men and women. This happened near Snahabad, across the Ganges, about 30 miles northward from this place. I have heard nothing further about this but a vague report." August 10, 1810. In this stage of our historical record, it will be proper to insert the ensuing letter from Maurice Crosbie Moore, Esq. to William Higgins, Esq.
" had the honour of receiving a letter, re questing from me the particulars respecting a meteoric stone that fell near my house, in the county of Tippe rary, and which a short time ago I did myself the pleasure of presenting to the Dublin Society. The particulars are as follow :—Early last August, between eleven and twelve o'clock in the morning, I went from Moore's Fort to Limerick ; the day was dark and sul try. I returned in a few days, and was immediately informed by my steward and butler, that a most won derful phenomenon had occurred very soon after my departure ; they produced the stone, and gave the follow ing account of the occurrence :—There had been thun der ; some workmen, who were laying lead along the gutters of my house, were suddenly astonished at hear ing a whistling noise in the air ; one said, ' The chimney is on fire ;' another said, ' It proceeds from a swarm of bees in the air.' On looking up, they observed a small
black cloud, very low, carried by a different current of air from the mass of clouds, from whence they imagined this stone to have proceeded ; it flew with the greatest velocity over their heads, and fell in a field, about three hundred yards from the house : they saw it fall. It was immediately dug up, and taken into the steward's office, where it remained two hours cooling before it could be handled. This account I have had from many who were present, and agree in the one story. I saw. myself, the hole the stone made in the ground ; it was not more than a foot in depth," Sze.
This stone was not injured by the fall, and was of a somewhat cubical shape with the angles and edges of two sides rounded ; the other two opposite sides ex hibited a ve ry uneven surface, occasioned by depres sions and prominences, as if a part had been broken previous to the heat to which it must have been ex posed before its fall. It weighed seven pounds and three quit tors ; and the entire surface was covered with a brownish-black thin crust, evidently the effect of fusion, by an intense and vapid heat. On inspection of its internal texture, there were distinguishable, I. Dark-grey particles of malleable iron, without any re gular shape, of unequal magnitude, numerously dispers ed, and rendered bright when rubbed with a file ; 2. Some very small bright particles of iron ; 3. Particles of martial pyrites, of various colours, some being red dish-yellow, some yellowish-white, and a very few of a purplish tinge ; 4. A very few round globules, about the size of mustard-seed, of a greyish-brown, readily yield ing to the file, and seeming to contain no metallic mat ter These several materials are cemented by a whitish grey earthy substance, while minute yellowish-brown spots, very close to one another, and proceeding from oxyd of iron, are disseminated in the mass. According to Mr. Higgins, its specific gravity is 3670 ; and its analysis gave, in one instance, the excess being attributable to the absorption of oxy gen by the metallic bodies.