Civilian & telegraph. [volume] (Cumberland, Md.) 1859-1875, 1861-08-08

in the breasts of every one feelings of
awe. and deep and abiding interest in
these bodies. The destruction which
they are calculated to produce. and the
four memorable instances of mortals
crushed to death in their fall. tinges the
interest with feelings of melancholy and
terror. The danger apprebendcd from
cometary collision bodies moving in
strict obedience to an inexorable law.
and of light and vapory substance gen.
erallv-is nothing compared with the
possibility of the descent Of an aerolite at
midday. from clear sky, carrying de-
vastation in its course. No warning pre-
cedes its coming, and the swiftness of
its descent precludes escape:
When it is considered that three fourths
of the surface of the globe is covered
with water, into which these bodies may
fall, unnoticed and without leaving any
trace of its existence, their recorded
numbers ana the destruction they have
produced on limited part Of its sold
surface may be considered partively
great. The earliest record ola fall of
aeroli.es is among the Chinese. From
the year GA before our era, to 1888 af-
ter Christ, sixteen of these bodies are
registered as having fallen, while the
Greek and Roman authors mention only
four during this period. The great mass
which fell during 465 B. G., at Egos
Potomos. is the most celebrated in anti
guilty. 1t is described as being as large
as two mill stones; and Humbolt express
ed an opinion that. Notwithstanding the
lapse of 2, 1926 years, the Thracial aero
lite mass ay yet be found.
An aerolite in the beginning Of the
tenth century fell into the river Of Mar
nj; and projected four feet above the sur
face of the water like huge rock, and
a Mongolian tradition is extant, that a
rock forty feet in height fell from heav =
en- on plain near the great Yellow
River in China. In 1903 large aeor-
lite exploded in Norn andy in France,
and scattered thousands of its fragments
over region thirty miles square,
| Upward of two hundred instances Of
, the fall of these bodies in different parts
of the world are recorded 1t must be
remarked that ever the largest of the
masses found ,wheth r IN ancient or mod
ern times, are but fragments of the or
iginaI bef"re the explosion They have
been variously estimated in size, before
bursting, from few hundred feet to
several miles. They approach and even
exceed the magnitude of the smallest of
the asteroids, which is estimated at five
hundred miles in diameter
The aeroite ma is generally warm
sometimes heated to great degree when
it first falls. They all exhibit gener-
al indentify in external form, the char
acter and color of their crust, and the
chemical composition of their principal
constituents, without regard to the epoch,
or the place of their decent. 1t is justly
considered a singular and striking fact,
that aerolites contain no new chemical
element, but contain the same as distri-
buted in the crust Of the earth When
first found, they have thin, black,
brilliant coating, occasionally veincd.-
This peculiar color of the external crust
was no iced by the ancients, and there
is but Que recorded instance where itswas
wanting. The interior of the masse is,
usually, of light gray color, the pres
encc or absence of certain chemical ele-
ments, which compose these bodies, va
rying the degree of color.
Within the present century, three
great acrolitcs have attracted the atten-
ton ofthe people of New England. The
first, which exploded near Weston, Con-
necticut, December IA, 1907, was the
subject Of elaborate calculation by the
celebrated l'r. Bow1itch, in It's geome-
trical and numerical relations The ex-
treme limits of its real diameter was pla-
ced by Bowditch, at five hundred feet
for its least, and one and one-half miles
for its greatest diameter.
This large limit is owing to the vari-
Gus estimates Of its size from the place of
observation, they being less reliable than
its altitude and course The aerolite
moved over something more than one
hundred and seven miles during its Wis
ibility, at distance of eight miles from
the earth's surface. Its velocity was
about three miles per second. An ex-
plosion tonk place over Weston, and
masses of stone fell, weighing about half
ton. This could have been but very
small part of the original, which must
have continued on its course and the cb-
servation at Weston of ITS gradual dis
appearance, favors this idea. As its
course was sortherly. and nearly in the
meridian of that place, the other frag-
ment, if it descended, must have fallen
into the ocean.
The next aerolite was seen over
New England, on the evening of
Sept. 80, 1850, and is in some respects
the most remarkable on record. is
sometimes known as the Jenny Lind
Meteor on account Of its existenc, with
iu the great dome of the Cambridge Oh
servatory, being first made known by
the illustrious vocalist turning suddenly
and excitedly away from the great tel
escope where she was viewing the plan
net Saturn. near which the aerolite ex-
pIoded The sudden illumination of the
field of the telescope by the aerolite was
the cause oe her surprise. The writer
will never forget the startling effect of
the sudden concentration 'of great light
in the field of the comet seeker with
which he was exploring at the time,