1. Double meteor, Dec. 29, 1886. 2. Curved meteor, Dec. 25, 1886. 3. Fireball, Sept. 7, 1888. ]
Meteorite which fell at Orgueil in 1864.]
_Aerolites._—Meteors enter our atmosphere with such great velocity that the friction induced by their impact is sufficient to destroy them by combustion. They rarely approach the Earth’s surface within 15 miles. Occasionally, however, a slow-moving meteor of large size, and formed of a very compact substance, will penetrate entirely through the air-strata and fall upon the Earth’s surface. Many instances of the kind have been recorded, and a few of these are quoted below:—
1478 B.C. The Parian chronicle records that an aerolite or thunder-stone fell in the island of Crete. This appears to be the earliest stone-fall described in history.
654 B.C. A shower of stones descended near Rome.
465 B.C. A stone, surrounded with fire, fell in Thrace. This stone is referred to by several ancient writers. It was termed the “Mother of the Gods” and is said to have fallen at the feet of the poet Pindar.
52 B.C. A shower of iron descended at Lucania, in the time of Crassus.
1492 A.D. A stone weighing 262 lb. fell at Ensisheim, in Alsace.
1642. A stone of 4 lb. fell near Woodbridge, in Suffolk.
1795, Dec. 13. A stone of 56 lb. fell at Wold Cottage, Thwing, Yorkshire.
1860, July 14. A shower of aerolites fell at Dhurmsala, in India. A tremendous detonation attended their descent, and the natives became greatly alarmed. They supposed the stones to have been thrown by some of their deities from the summit of the Himalayas, and many of them were preserved as objects of religious veneration.
1864, May 14. A very large meteor was observed in France. At Montauban and the neighbourhood deafening explosions occurred, and showers of stones fell near the villages of Orgueil and Nohic.
1876, April 20. A piece of iron weighing 7-3/4 lb. fell at Rowton, Shropshire.
1881, March 14. A stone weighing 3 lb. 8-1/4 oz. fell at Middlesborough, Yorkshire, on a part of the North-Eastern Railway Company’s branch line. The descent of the aerolite was witnessed by an inspector and three platelayers, who were working about fifty yards distant. At first they became aware of a whizzing or rushing noise in the air, immediately followed by the sudden blow of a body striking the ground near. The hole, 11 inches deep, which the stone made was found directly after, and the stone was extracted.