Silex,. 66 .
. . . .
Magnesia,. 20 . . .
Lime and magnesia in quantities too small for appreciation. — 103 A fragment kept for twelve hours under water, was taken out, covered with spots of rust, which distin guished the grains of alloy from the sulphureous parti cles with which they were formerly confounded. September 19, 1775. A stone, which is still preserv ed in the Cabinet of Natural History at Cobourg, fell near Rodach, a village in the principality of that town. Gilb. 4n.-1775, or 1776. Stones fell near Obruteza, in Volhynia, Id.—January or Feburary 1776, a great shower of stones fell near Fabbriano, in the territory of Santanatoglia, the ancient duchy of Camerino. Soldani and dimoretti.-1779. Mr. Bingley relates, in the Gentleman's Magazine, that he has in his posses sion two pieces of an atmospheric concretion, which actually descended in a loud peal of thunder on a meadow at Pettiswood, in the county of Westmeath, Ireland. They weigh three ounces and a half, and are supposed to have formed two-thirds of the whole mass, which in shape resembled a twopenny heart-cake. " At the instant this rude lump descended." says Mr. Bingley, "our little village was enveloped with the fumes of sulphur, which continued about six minutes. To its descent five witnesses are now living, three of whom reside in London. It lighted upon the wooden part of a harness, called a stradle, belonging to a filly drawing manure to a meadow, and broke into three pieces. At the same instant the affrighted beast fell to the earth under her load ; as did the two equally affrighted gassoons (boys,) the drivers, who in good Irish came crying to me with two pieces of the stone, declaring that themselves and the filly were all murder ed by this thunder bolt ; none of whom, however, have received the least injury. The two pieces, when I re ceived them after the resurrection of the boys, were warm as milk just from the cow ; whence it may natu rally be concluded that the cake came from a scorch ing atmosphere, and pretty well accounts for the out side of it in its formation, and during its stay there, having been tinged to a whitish brown, whereas inter nally it is of a silver white."—April 11, 1780. Stones
fell near Beeston, in England. Loyd's Evening Post.— April 24, 1781. Count Gioeni observed in the third region of Mount Etna, every thing to be wetted with a cretaceous grey rain, which, after evaporation, left every part covered with it, to the height of two or three lines. All iron work touched by it became rusty. Philos. Trans. vol. lxxii.-1782. A stone fell near Turin. Tata and Amore:IL—February 19, 1785. Baron Mold, in a German _publication, has communi cated some notices of stones which fell in the princi pality of Eichstaedt. One of the masses transmitted to Baron Hompesch had the aspect of a grey ash-colour ed sandstone, speckled with small grains of both mal leable and ochreous iron. A brickmaker saw it fall when the ground was covered with snow, and imme diately consequent on what he termed a loud peal of thunder. On running to lay hold on it, he felt it so hot, that he was obliged to let it cool in the snow in which it was immersed. This specimen was about half a foot in diameter, and completely enveloped in a black vitrified of native iron, ten lines in thickness, which indicated the action of fire. It yield ed to Klaproth, Silex.
. .
.
Magnesia. . .
Iron 6.5 . .
. • Oxyd of do.. . 19 Nickel. 1.5 . .
Sulphur, a trace.
96.5 A specimen may he seen in the Imperial Cabinet of Vienna. See also Pickel and Stutz.—October I, 1787. Stones fell in the province of Charkow, in Russia. Gilb. .1nn.
July 24, 1790. The shower of stones which fell near Barbotan and other places in the landes of Bourdeaux, is worthy of particular commemoration. The fiery me teor from which it proceeded. and which was seen at A:.;en, and in the neighbouring departments, about nine o'clock in the evening, after traversing a certain portion of the atmosphere, and dragging a luminous train, which was visible for at least 50 seconds, exploded with an ex traordinary noise and scintillation. Of the numerous accounts of this phenomenon, some of the most interest ing arc addressed to M. Darcet, the chemist. An in habitant of St. Sbere, for example, imparts the ensuing circumstances.