[meteorite-list] Experiments and Observations on certain stony and metalline Substances, which at different Times are said to have fallen on the Earth by By Edward Howard

[Shawn Alan]

Hello Listers,
 
I am always doing research on meteorites and I found a great paper by Edward Howard written in 1802.
 
This paper is about Siena, Wold Cottage and Benares meteorite falls and the similarities that these three stones have in common. Down below is an introduction to the paper and at the end will be a link to the 45 page PDF file.
 
Have fun 
 
Experiments and observations on certain Stony Substances which, at different times, are said to have fallen on the Earth 
also on various Kinds of native Iron. By Edward
Howard, Esq. F. R. S.
 

Read February 25, 1802.
The concordance of a variety of facts seems to render it most
indisputable, that certain stony and metalline substances have,
at different periods, fallen on the earth. Whence their origin,
or whence they came, is yet, in my judgment, involved in
complete obscurity.
The accounts of these peculiar substances, in the early annals,
even of the Royal Society, have unfortunately been blended with
relations which we now consider as fabulous ; and the more
ancient histories of stones fallen from heaven, from Jupiter, or
from the clouds, have evidently confounded such substances
with what have been termed Ceraunia, Bcetilia, Ombria, Brontia,
&c. names altogether unappropriate to substances fallen on our
globe* Indeed some mislead, and others are inexpressive.
The term Ceraunia, by a misnomer, deduced from its supposed
origin, seems, as well as Boetilia,* to have been anciently
used to denote many species of stones, which were polished
and shaped into various forms, though mostly wedge-like or
triangular, sometimes as instruments, sometimes as oracles,
and sometimes as deities. The import of the names, Ombria,
Brontia, &c. seems subject to the same uncertainty.
In very early ages, it was believed, that stones did in reality

fall, as it was said, from heaven, or from the gods ; these;
either from ignorance, or perhaps from superstitious views,
were confounded with other stones, which, by their compact
aggregation, were better calculated to be shaped into different
instruments, and to which it was convenient to attach a species
of mysterious veneration• In modern days, because explosion
and report have generally accompanied the descent of such
substances, the name of thunderbolt, or thunderstone, has igno»
rantly attached itself to them ; and, because a variety of sub«
stances accidentally present, near buildings and trees struck
with lightning, have, with the same ignorance, been collected as
thunderbolts, the thunderbolt and the fallen metalline substance
have been ranked in. the same class of absurdity. Certainly,
since the phenomena of lightning and electricity have been so
well identified, the idea of a thunderbolt is ridiculous. But the
existence of peculiar substances fallen on the earth, I cannot
hesitate to assert; and, on the concordance of remote and
authenticated facts, I shall rest the assertion.
Mr. King, the learned author of Remarks concerning Stones said
to havefallenfrom the Clouds, in these Days, and in ancient Times,
has adduced quotations of the greatest antiquity, descriptive of
the descent of fallen stones ; and, could it be thought necessary
to add antique testimonies to those instanced by so profound an
antiquarian, the quotations of Mons. Falconet, in his papers
upon Boetilia, inserted in the Histoire des Inscriptions et Belles-
Lettres;* the quotations in Zahn's Specula Pbysico-matbematica
Historiana ;-f the Fisica Sotterranea of Giacinto Gemma; the

***

>From the external characters, and from his analysis, the
Professor considers the stone of Ensisheim to be argillo-ferruginous
; and is of opinion that ignorance and superstition have
attributed to it a miraculous existence, at variance with the first
notions of natural philosophy.*
The account next m succession is already printed in the'
Transactions of the Royal Society ; but cannot be omitted, as it
immediately relates to one of the substances I have examined.
I allude to the letter received by Sir William Hamilton, from
the Earl of Bristol, dated from Sienna, July isthj 1794. " In
u the midst of a most violent thunder-storm, about a dozem
" stones, of various weights and dimensions, fell at the feet of
u different persons, men, women, and children. The stones are
u of a quality not found in any part of the Siennese territory ;.:
" they fell about eighteen hours after the enormous eruption of
'* Mount Vesuvius; which circumstance leaves a choice of dif~
" Acuities in the solution of this extraordinary 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 franr Vesuvius, at a*
distance of at least 250 miles; judge then of its? parabola;.
" The philosophers here incline to the first solution. I wish
u much, Sir, to know your sentiments. My first, objection was
u to the fact itself; but of this there are so many eye witnesses,,
" it seems impossible to withstand their evidence/' (Phil Trans.,
for 1795. p. log.) Sir William Hamilton, it seems, also.
received a piece of one of the largest stones, which weighed:
upwards of five pounds; and had seen another, which weighed,
about one, He likewise, observed, that the outside of every stone
which, had been found, and had been ascertained to have fallen?

from the clouds near Sienna, was evidently freshly vitrified, and
was black, having every sign of having passed through an
extreme heat; the inside was of a light gray colour, mixed with
black spots and some shining particles, which the learned there
had decided to be pyrites.
In 1796, a stone weighing 56 lbs. was exhibited in London,
with several attestations of persons who, on the 13th of December,
1795, saw it fall, near Wold Cottage, in Yorkshire, at about
three o'clock in the afternoon . It had penetrated through 1 2 inches
of soil and 6 inches of solid chalk rock ; and, in burying itself, had
thrown up an immense quantity of earth, to a great distance : as
it fell, a number of explosions were heard, about as loud as pistols.
In the adjacent villages, the sounds heard were taken for guns
at sea; but, at two adjoining villages, were so distinct of something
singular passing through the air, towards the habitation
of Mr. Topham, that five or six people came up, to see if any
thing extraordinary had happened to his house or grounds.
When the stone was extracted, it was warm, smoked, and
smelt very strongly of sulphur. Its course, as far as could be
collected from different accounts, was from the south-west. The
day was mild and hazy, a sort of weather very frequent in the
Wold hills, when there are no winds or storms ; but there was
not any thunder or lightning the whole day. No such stone is
known in the country. There was no eruption in the earth
;
and, from its form, it could not come from any building ; and,
as the day was not tempestuous, it did not seem probable that
it could have been forced from any rocks, the nearest of which
are those of Hamborough Head, at a distance of twelve miles.*
The nearest volcano, I believe to be Hecla, in Iceland.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/107118.pdf?acceptTC=true


Shawn Alan 
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