Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1818-08-14

| Aliitle before the explosion occurred. @,
rather before the repor, was heard. 4
brisk scintillation, or sparkling Of the me
,eor was observed. Particles proceeded
from The body, and continued Luminous
| Till they had arrived al considerable
distance from it, but gradually growing
| less and less vivid, iill they disappeared
Many individuals saw the light WHO did
not see the meteor.
A gentleman belonging to Within,
states, that he witnessed The phenomenon
during its passage from near the zenith,
ill II was totally eAiinguisled that lie
saw 1t three times violently agiiafcd, so,
to use his own language, as 10 cause il
to roll over" that al each agitation or
leap, its bulk diminished /; and hat short
~ after the third, the luminary wholly
disappeared That, AT The time of these
agi;a,ions, an unusual quantity of light
was emitted and That IN about 10 mill
utes, he believed, after the asiia;ions, he
heard three distinct reports. 1t was pro-
badly the light sent forth at the second
explosion, which was observed by tie
gentleman mentioned, who was standing
IN his garden. He also heard the report,
but imagined, that not more than 3 mn-
utes interviewed between tie flash and the
time The sound reached his ear. Other
gentlemen ofnhis village suppose, that
The intervening time could not have been
short OF five iiiunieS.
Though the motion Of this, as well as
all other meteors is rapid, (and they have
been seen TO move one thousand miles in
a minute) il is well known, that the mo-
ton Of sound is comparatively slow, pas
sing over less than ID miles in minute.
Supposing the intervening time TO have
been minutes, the meteor, when eXplo-
ded, must have been 65 miles distant
from this place. If The interval was ID
minutes, its distance must have been a
bout 300 miles.
We cannot doubt, that at the moment
OF the aforementioned agitations, stones,
depomiuaied meteoric, were projected
from the principal mass, and precipitated
TO The earth. Such, we believe, is uniyer-
sally the fact with meteors, which explode
i'll the atmosphere. These stones are usu-
ally of globular form, and always CO.
vered with a black or deep brown incrus-
tation, composed chiefly of iron. The
internal part of the mass is of grey si
color, and of course granular texture.
Chemical analyses bias shewn that they
are made up principally of iron, sulphur,
ma9nesia, clay, lime and siter. These
stones have fallen iii almost every part of
the globe, and of all sizes, from that Of a
pea to that of a body of several yards
in diameter. But one instance Of this
kind has, 10 my knowledge, occurred III
New England. This is the meteor which
burst over the town Of Weston, in Connec-
lieut., in 1907; an excellent account of
which was given to the public by pro-
fessors Siilinan aud Kingsley. The body
OF it was computed TO have been not less
than twelve or thirteen hundred feet in
diameter.
Ii stones fell from the meteor, which
we have hastily and specifically describ-
ed, we are anxious to know where they
fell. We hope 10 hear something OH this
subject from our friends in the eastern
part OF this stale, or in New hampshire
Should we obtain any additional iDiorma.
ton, which is interesting, relative to this
extraordinary celestial visitor, we shall
not fail 10 communicate il TO the public.
The above is taken from the mouths of
those who Witnessed the phenomeuon.