May 17, 1791. Stones fell at Castle Berardenga, in Tuscany. Soldani.—June 16, 1794, the late Earl of Bris tol's account of the Siena meteorite is thus related by the late Sir William Hamilton, in the Philosophical Trans actiOns for 1795.
I must here mention a very extrordinary circum stance indeed, that happened near Siena, in the Tuscan State, about eighteen hours after the commencement of the late eruption of Vesuvius, on the 15th of June, al though that phenomenon may have no relation to the eruption ; and which was communicated to me, in the following words, by the Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Derry, in a letter, dated from Siena, July 12, 1794. ' In the midst of a most violent thunder storm, about a dozen stones of various weights and dimensions fell at the feet of different people, men, women, and children ; the stones are of a quality not found in any part of the Sie nese territory ; they fell about eighteen hours after the enormous eruption of Vesuvius, which circumstance leaves a choice of difficulties in the solution of this ex traordinary phenomenon; either these stones have been generated in this igneous mass of clouds, which produced such unusual thunder ; or, which is equally incredible, they were thrown from Vesuvius, at a distance of at least 250 miles ; judge then of its parabola. The phi losophers here incline to the first solution. I wish much, sir, to know your sentiments. My first objection was to the fact itself; but of this there are so many eye-witnesses, it seems impossible to withstand their evidence, and now I am reduced to perfect scepticism.' His lordship was pleased to send me a piece of one of the largest stones, which, when entire, weighed up wards of five pounds ; and I have seen another, which has been sent to Naples entire, and weighs about one pound. The outside of every stone that has been as certained to have fallen from the cloud near Siena, is evidently freshly vitrified, and is black, having every sign of having passed through an extreme heat ; when broken, the inside is of a light grey colour, mixed with black spots, and some shining particles, which the learn ed here have decided to be pyrites ; and, therefore, it cannot be a lava, or they would have been decom posed." The Abbate Soldani, Professor of Mathematics in the University of Siena, has published a more detailed ac count of the same phenomenon. He informs us, that an
alarming cloud was seen in Tuscany, near Siena and Radacolani, proceeding from the north, about seven o'clock in the evening, discharging sparks like rockets, and throwing out smoke like a furnace, with explosions more resembling the discharge of cannon and musketry than thunder, and casting down ignited stones to the ground, while the lightning which issued from it was remarkably red, and less rapid than an ordinary flash. To persons in different situations, the cloud appeared to be of different shapes ; and, though it remained suspend ed for a considerable time, its fire and smoke were vi sible in every direction. Its altitude, from a combina tion of cirumstances, was judged to be much above the common region of the clouds. One of the stones, which was of an irregular figure, weighed five pounds and a half, was black on the outside, as if suffused with smoke, and seems, internally, to be composed of matter of the colour of ashes, and in which were perceived small specks of metal, as of gold and silver. Besides this, about nineteen others were shown to Soldani, and all of them characterized by a black and glazed outer surface, by their resistance to acids, and by a degree of hardness which permitted them not to be scratched with the point of a penknife.
Signor Jllontauli, who observed the cloud as he hap pened to be travelling, described it as appearing much above the elevation of ordinary clouds, as wrapt in smoke and flame, and as gradually becoming white, without being visibly affected by the sun's rays, which beamed full on its lower portions. In the heart of it he could discern, as it were, the basin of a fiery furnace, with a rotatory motion. This curious observer likewise gives an account of a stone, which, he was assured, dropped from the cloud, at a farmer's feet, and was dug out of the ground into which it had penetrated. It was about five inches long, and four broad, nearly square, and smooth, black on the surface, as if singed, but, within, like a sand-stone, with various small parti cles of iron, and bright metallic stars. Most of the others which he examined were of a rudely trianglar shape, and sonic so small as not to weigh more than an ounce.