" The elder Buat has just arrived, and desires us to add, that a fire-ball was observed to hover over the meadow. Perhaps it was wild-fire." At the sitting of the Institute on the 9th of May, Fourcroy read a letter addressed to Vauquelin, from the town of L'Aigle, containing, among other details, the following : On the 26th of April, about one o'clock, P. M. the sky being almost serene, a rolling noise like that of thunder was heard. It seemed to proceed Irons a single cloud which was on the horizon, and which the inhabitants beheld with uneasiness, when, to their great surprise and terror, explosions like the reports of cannon, sometimes single and sometimes double, were heard, along with a violent hissing,—phenomena which struck terror even into domestic animals ; for the cows bellowed, and the poultry fled to a place of shelter. This noise was succeeded by the fall ol a great number of stones of different sizes, weighing ten, eleven, and even seventeen pounds. The largest enter( d the earth to the depth of a foot: Several of these fell into the court-yard of M. Bois-de-la•Ville, and one of them very near him. Many curious persons collected some of them ; and Fourcroy laid before the Institute one of the iragnients, which, when compared with that of the Villefranche specimen, presented at the meeting by Pictet, greatly resembled it in every point, exhibiting the same colour, texture, and black crust ; in a word, the fragments could not be distinguished from each other but by the size.
Lamarck then reported that he had received several letters. apprizing him of a fire-ball which had been seen to pass from east to west with great velocity on the same day, and at the same hour, at which the event al luded to took place. It was added, that this meteor had been seen at sea before it reached the continent.
But we pass to the substance of M. Biot's letter, ad dressed to the minister of the interior, and published in the Journal des Debate. This gentleman, who is ad vantageously known over Europe for his scientific 'at tainments, was deputed by government to repair to the spot, and collect all the authentic facts. The contents of Its letter have been since expanded into the form of a memoir, which manifests the caution and judgment that guided his inquiries.
Biot left Paris on the 25th of June, and, in place of proceeding directly tt. L'Aigle, went first to Alencon, lies fifteen leagues to the west south-west of it. On his way, he was informed that a globe of fire had been observed moving towards the north, and that its appearance was followed by a violent explosion. From Alencon he journeyed through various villages to L'Ai gle, being ditected in his progress by the accounts of the inhabitants, who had all heard the explosion on the day and at the hour specified ; and almost all the resi dents of twenty hamlets declared, that they were eye -witnesses of a dreadful shower of stones which was darted from the meteor. The summary of the evi
dence which M. Biot collected, may be thus expressed.
About one o'clock, P. M. the weather being serene, there was observed from Caen, Pont-d'Audenier, and the environs of Alencon, Falaise and Verneuil, a fiery globe of uncommon splendour. and which moved in the atmosphere with great rapidity. Some moments after, there was heard at L'Aigle, and for thirty leagues round in every direction, a violent explosion, which lasted five or six minutes. Three or four reports, like those of cannon, were followed by a kind of discharge, which resembled the firing of musketry ; after which, there was heard a dreadful rumbling, like the beating of a drum. The air was calm, and the sky serene, with the exception of a few clouds, such as are com monly observed at that season. The noise proceeded from a small cloud which had a rectangular form, the largest side being in a direction from east to west. It appeared motionless all the time that the phenomenon lasted ; but the vapours of which it was composed were projected momentarily from different sides, by the ef fect of the successive explosions. This cloud was about half a league to the north northwest of the town of L'Aigle, and at a great elevation in the atmosphere ; for the inhabitants of two hamlets, a league distant front each other, saw it at the same time above their heads. In the whole district over which this cloud was suspended, there was heard a hissing noise, like that of a stone discharged from a sling; and a great many mi neral masses, exactly similar to those distinguished by the name of meteor-stones, were seen to fall.
The portion of country in which these masses were projected, forms an elliptical extent of nearly two leagues and a half in length, and nearly one in breadth, the greatest dimension being in a direction from south east to north-west, forming a declination of about 22 de grees. This direction, which the meteor must have followed, is exactly that ol the magnetic meridian, which is a remarkable result. The greatest of the stones fell at the south-eastern extremity of the large axis of the ellipse, the middle-sized in the centre, and the smallest at the north-western extremity. Hence it appears that the largest fell first, as might be naturally supposed. The largest of all those which fell weighed 174 lb. and the smallest which was subjected to Al. Btot's inspection, only a thousandth part of that weight, or two French grog.
As we cannot make room for an analysis of M. Biot's more extended communication, we shall be contented to select only two facts.