During the French Revolution, this large meteorite was found still suspended in the church, but it weighed only lb. The French removed it to the National Library at Colmar, and, notwithstanding the many frag ments which have been detached from it, the mass still weighs 150 lb A large specimen is preserved in the Cabinet of the Parisian :Museum, another in the Impe rial Cabinet at Vienna, and we have seen another small fragment in the valuable and interesting collection of Robert Ferguson of Raith, Esq.
The Ensisheim stone is of a schistose texture, of a slate-grey colour, and composed of small shining parti cles of granular portions of a whitish-grey, blended with thin laminae of a slate-grey fissile substance of grains or globules of pure iron, and of grey and shining stil phuret of iron and nickel. The cross fracture is very unequal. and the longitudinal waving. in the direction of the laminae. and, at the same time, tough and harsh. Such parts of the outer surface as remain entire are coated with a blackish vitrified crust. It gives no ar gillaceous odour by insufflation ; and, under the blow pipe. the grey portions become black, and arc converted into frit Its specific gravity is 3 23, and its analysis yielded to Vauquelin, Its principal peculiarity, therefore, is its schistose tex ture.
January 28, 1496. Marcus Antonius Sabellicus, in the second volume of the Lyons edition of his works, (p. 34I,) mentions the lall o three stones between Ce sena and Bcrtonosi. Bonlinius, or r niter, we pre sume, his continuator. reports, that a shower of stones fell near the village of Munkbergen in the course of the same year, and that the inhabitants amused their fancy by tracing on the fallen fragments outlines of the human countenance and diadems.-1501. Ac cording to different chronicles, showers of blood fell in several places.-1510. In the Commentary of Su rius, a Carthusian monk of Cologne, mention is made of a shower of large stones in Lombardy , they are de scribed, probably wit:t some exaggeration, as harder than flint, smelling of Sulphur, Ste. But the same event is more particularly commemorated by Cardan. in his Treatise De Rerunz Varietate ; for he informs us, that between Crernasco or Crema, and Milan. and not far from the river Adda, at five o'clock in the evening, about twelve hundred stones fell from the air, one of which weighed 120 lb. and another 60 lb. Many were presented as curiosities to the French Governor and his Deputy. At three o'clock in the afternr,on. the sky ap peared as if in a general blaze, and the passage, though somewhat ambiguous, would lead us to infer, that the fiery meteor was visible for two hours. Like many of the learned and unlearned of his day, Cardan immedi ately connects the extraordinary appearance with the political transactions of his petty district. The same incident is noticed by Leonardus in his Mirror of Stones, and by Bondini in his Theatrum Nature. The following passage is extracted from a series of Observations on Natural History. Meteorology. &c. made in the early part of the 16th century, by Andrea da Prato of Milan, which, though not published, have been repeatedly co pied in MS. It seems to allude to the same occurrence, although the year quoted is 1511.
On the fourth of September, at the second hour of the night, and also at tilt seventh, there appeared in the air, at Milan, a running fire, with such splendour, that the day seemed to have returned, and some persons be held the appearance of a large head. which caused great wonder and fear in the city. The same thing happened on the following night at the ninth hour. A few days after, beyond the river Adda, there fell from Heaven many stones. which, being collected at Cremasco, were found to weigh 8 ib and ev.n 11 lb. each. Their co lour was similar to that of burned stones." Dr Bossi, in commenting on this statement, endeavours to account for the space of time which appears to have intervened between the meteor and the fall of stones, by supposing it occupied in conveying the intelligence from Crema to Milan.
1516 In the year \Van-li, of the dynasty of Ming, in the 12.th moon, on the 25th day, at Chtm-khing, fou. in the province of Soe-tchhouan, there was nei ther wind nor clouds, %viten the thunder rumbled sud denly, and six globular stones fell, of which one weigh ed eight pounds another fifteen. a third twent -seven, the smaller not more than a pound. and the smallest of all only ten ounces Alfa-rortan-lin.—May, 1520, stones fell in Arragon Diego de Sayas.—April 23, 154U, a stone fell i? the Limousin. Bonay. de S:. Anzablr.—Between 1510 and 1550. Albinus. in his Chronicle of Misnia, records the lall of a large ferru ginous mass, in a forcst near Seuhsr between Leipsic and Grimma, in Saxony : hut Jonston and Alberti write Neu/to/ern others, Natinhoff-.112 Ste. A speci men of this mass is still to he seen in the imperial ca binet in Vienna. Some time about the same period, iron fell in Piedmont Mercati and Scaliger.—No vewher 6, 15:8. According to Spangenberg and Bo naventure de St. Amable, a blackish mass, accompa nied with a red substance, like coagulated blood, and with a loud noise, fell at Mansfeldt in Thuringia.— May 19, 1552. From the same source we learn, that a shower of stones made great havoc in the environs of Schltnsingen, also in Thuringia. That this was not a hail shower is obvious. from the circumstance that Spangenberg carried several of the stones with him to Eisleben.-1559. It is related in the 16th vol. of the Breslau, Collection, and in Isthuanfius's History of Hun gary that five stones, said to be preserved in the treasury of VI,nna, each of the size of a man's head, exceedingly heavy, of a rusty-iron colour, and emit ting a strong smell of sulphur, fell from the heavens, with explosions a (Irk actin! concussion of the air, at Miscoz, in Transylvania.—Whitsuntide, 1560. Red rain at Embden, Louvain, Ste. Promond.—December 24 O. A fiery meteor, and red rain at Lillehonne. narahs Comrs.-1\Iay 17, 1561. A stone fell at Ellen bore, in the Torgau. Gesner and de Boot.—May 27, 1580 Stones fell near GOttingen. Bange.—July 26, 1581. Between one and two o'clock in the afternoon, a stone, weighing 39 lb. of a blue and brownish co lour, and which gave fire with steel, fell from the air, in Thuringia, with an explosion which shook the earth, and accompanied by the appearance of a small light, which was supposed to be a fire-ball, the heavens be ing, in other respects, serene. It sunk into the soil to the depth of a yard and a quarter, tossed up the earth to twice the height of a man; and was at first so hot that nobody could touch it. After some time had elapsed, it was carried to Dresden. Binhard's Chro nicle of Thuringia, Olearius.—January 9, 1583, stones fell at Castrovillari. C'asto, Illtrcati, and Imperati.— Ides of January, 1583. Mercati mentions. that some of the inhabitants of Rosa, in Lavadie, who were walk ing on the neighbouring heights, in serene weather, observed a thick black cloud, which exploded near them with such violence, that they fell almost sense less to the ground, and that, on recovering from their alarm, they immediately repaired to the spot, and found a stone of about 30 lb., which resembled iron —March 2. 1583. A stone, of the size of a hand gre nade, fell in Piedmont.-1585. A stone fell in Italy, Imperati.—Ducember 3, 1586. A great quantity of red and blackish matter, which burned some planks, and was accompanied by thunder and lightning, fell at Verden, in Hanover. Solomon, Senator or Bremen. —June 9. 1591. Angelus, in the Anna/es 11-Tarchix, and Lucas affirm, that some large stones fell at Kunersdorf. A shower of blood at La Magdelaine, near Orleans. Leman, in Nouv. Dict. d'llist. Xaturelle.