New Orleans daily crescent., 1860-08-27

lowing interesting account o. the visits Of aerotes
| to our worldg
Aeroftes. as the derivation Of the word implies,
| are masses OF stone, which descend to the earth
from the regions Of our atmosphere Ihey are az
| ways, apparently, enTeloped in sPlftiy moving
| fiery globe Of considerable magnitudes which eX-
plodes with great noise, and hurls it, stony CON
tents large tracts Of oar globe. IN some in
stances the globe has passed into our atmosphere
and out again without explosion and without leaV-
ing any resduum. They are solitary in their flight,
and their fall is confined to geograp aphical local.
ity, do they descend from any particular region
! OF the heavens, pursue any common direction, or
| appear at any particular season of the year. They
| traverse usually large arc. n the sky, and e
| visible for some time and over vast extent of
territory.
| So far as our knowledge of them extends, their
! appearance and course are events wholly fortu5.
t0us. eteOfs, with which aefolites are often CON
founded, are class Of natural pheEemena entirely
| distinct from aeroltes. They are commoly known
as shooting stars from their resemblance IN color
and magnitude to the fixed stars, from whence they
| appear to proceed. They are of regular periodical
| occurrence descending in groups sometimes in
showers, and come from particular regions IN the
! heavens. They are visible but for snort tine
| describe but small arc in the sky, and are seen
over very small extent CT territory. They make
no noise and leave deposit. They are we'll
| known to be of harmless character, and excite
but little more curiosity in their appearance than
| the falling snowfiakes.
| But the terrific grandeur Of solitary acrolite
moving with planetary velocity in our very midst,
| exploding with the noise of many thunders. and
4 hurling 'shail of iron globesn and stony masses
over our globe, is calculated to awaken in the
breasts of every one, feelings OF awe, and deep
and abiding interest in these bodies. The de-
struction which they calculated to produce and
the four memorable instances of mortals crushed
to death in their fall, tnges their interest with feel-
ings of melancholy and terror. The danger appre-
hended from cometary collision-bodies moving In
strict obedience to an neXorable law, and OF hight
| nd subatanep
pared with the possibility of the descent OF an
aerolite at midday, from clear sky, carrying de-
| vastaton in its course. No warning pfecedes lts
coming and the swiftness of its descent preciudes
When it is considered that three fourths of the
surface of the globe is covered with water, into
which these bodies may fall unnotieed and with
out leaving any trace Of their existence, their re-
corded numbers and the destruction they have
produced limited part of its solid surface, may
be considered comparatively great. The earliest
record of the fall of aerolites among the Chinese.
From the year 644 before our era, to 3SS3 after
Christ sixteen of these bodies are registered as
having fallen, while the Greek and Roman authors
mention oaly four during this period. The great
mass which fell burning 4G5 years B. c., at fgos
Patmos is the most celebrated in antiquity. 1t is
described as being large as two millstones !;
and Humboldt expresses an opinion that notwith-
standing the lapse Of f. 2$25 @ years. the Ihraclan
An aerolite in the beginning of the tenth century
fell into the river at Narn and projected four feet
above the surface of the water like huge rock,
and Mongolian tradition is eXtant, that rock
forty feet in height fellfrom heaven plain near
Z the great Yellow river in China. In 1903 large
aerolite exploded in Normandy, in France, and
scattered thousands of its fragments over region
thirty miles square.
: Upwards of two hundred instances ef the fall oi
these bodies, in different parts Of the world, are
recorded. 1t must be remarked that even the larg
est of the masses found whether IN ancient OF
} modern times, are but fragments Of the origina
before the explosion. They have been! varieusly
estimated in size, before bursting, from few hun
dred feet to several miles They approach, an'
n even exceed the magnitude of the smallest of tn
, asteroids which is estimated at abeut five miles
u diameter
n The aerolitic mass is usually warm, sometime
heated to great degree, when it first falls. The
# exhibit general identity in external form, til
e character and color of their crust and the chem
cal composition Of their general constituents, Wit
ID out regard to the epoch or the place of their
'e scent. 1t is justly considered singular an
lie striking fact that aerolites contain chem
IS cal element, but contain the same as found distr
Of uted in the crust of the earth. When first four
they have thin black brilliant coating, occ
senally veined This peculiar color of the eXte
nal crust was noticed by the ancients, and there
!, but once recorded instance where it was wanting
VI The interior of the mass is, usually of light gra
color, the presence or absence of certain chemici
X elements, which compose these bodies, varying th
IS degree of color .,-.-
e have attracted the attention of the people of Me-
u
st Connecticut, Dec. Ia, 1907, was the subject {
Of elaborate calculation by the celebrated DR.. Bow
n ditch, in its geometrica and numerical relations
Is The extreme limits Of its real diameter was place
q by Bowdch at five hundred feet for its least, an
1r one and half miles for its greatest diameter.
is The large limit is owing to the various estimate
d of its size from the place of observation, they b
ing less reliable than its altitude and course I'll
is aerolite moved over something more than on
,, hundred and seven miles during its visibility, at
distance of eighteen miles from the earths surface
d Its velocity was about three miles per second A
is explosion took place over Weston, and masses
!. stone fell, weighing about half ton. This eonl
have been but a very small part of the origina
II which must have continued on its course, and th
Y observation at Weston, of its gradual disappear
o ance favors this dea As its course was southerly
and nearly in the meridian Of that place. the othe
fragment if tdescended, must have fallen into tn
is ocean,
IS The next aerote was seen all over New EnI
" land on the evening of September 30. 1850, and i
" in some respects, the most remarkable Of any
s, record. 1t is some times known as the "Jenf
n, Lind Meteor,h on account of its existence, with
9. the great dome of the Cambridge 0bservator
D. being first made known by the illustrious Vocali
$ turning suddenly and exctingly away from tt
O. great telescope, where she was viewing the plan
lie Saturn, near which the aeorlite exploded. II
s. sudden illumination of the field of the telescop
= by the aerolite, the cause of her surprise. II
lie writer will never forget the startling effect of Il
n sudden concentration Of great light in the field
u the eomet-seeker with which he was exploring
ly the time, region of the heavens quite reno
i. from that in which the aeoite exploded. III
ly astronomers of the Observatory noted very exact
~ the place of explosion among the stars, and ex
lg cuted drawings of the wonderful radienee it Ii
IN behind which remained visible in different forr
for more than hour. Its course, in the east, w
IS, in northerly direction.
e. The Cambridge and Nantucket observatio
ke made its distance from the former place at Il
er tine of explosion, about one hundred miles, al
he fifty miles above the ocean. The duration of
lst light renders this aerolte memorable.
lie The third, and probably much the largest, W;
ill that which appeared on the evening of July
ce 1860 Its appearance in the early part of the es
nj ming was favorable for general observation; al
he it appears to have been seen from Montreal
MS Norfolk Va. and from Detroit to Portland, M
Its physical appearance in this vicinity was that
two separate nuclei, side by side, throwing
as sparks which made a bright train of several d
10 grees in length. It is somewhat remarkable tn
the usual phenomena of explosion, was nowhe
ng seem This is sustained by the fact that as yet
ie noise was heard emanatng from the aerolite
sh all probability it passed on its planetary career.
or The approximate calculations of Prof. Bond
he Cambridge and DR.. Perkins Of Newburyport a
ur parently based different observations, concur
elf making its course nearly the northern part
in PENNSYLVANIA and New Jersey, and Long lsla
IN Sound with velocity of about twenty-five mil
M per second at an elevation of twenty-five mil
lat above the earth. The magnitude, velocity, a
his the course of this body WILL undoubtedly, be We
he exactly asdSrtained from the great number of