to what he has actually done: ever bearing in mind those words of the holy Psalmist.* "The works of The Lord are great: sought out of all them "that have pleasure therein. "The Lord hath so done his marvellous works, that they ought "to be had in remembrance." POSTSCRIPT. SINCE these sheets were printed, I have received from Sir Charles Blagden, a present of one of the very small stones mentioned, p. 7, that are affirmed to have fallen in Tuscany; and which has very lately been brought carefully from Italy. Its figure plainly indicates, that in the instant of its formation, there was a strong effort towards crystallization. For it is an irregular quadrilateral pyramid;-whose base, an imperfect kind of square, has two of its adjoining sides about six-tenths of an inch long, each; and the other two, each about fivetenths whilst two of the triangular sides of the pyramid, are about six-tenths, on every side of each triangle, all of which are a little curved and the other two triangular sides, are only five-tenths on the sides where these two last join. Its black crust, or coating, is such as has been described in the preceding pages: and is also remarkable, for the appearance of a sort of minute chequer work, formed by very fine white lines on the black surface. * Psalm 111. v. 2 and 4. [33] And, although this small specimen weighs only four pennyweights, nineteen grains; it is a matter well deserving attention, with regard to its interior substance, how much resemblance, on the whole, it really has with the stone said to have fallen in Yorkshire; in its gritty substance, and in its metallic, and pyritical spots, and in those parts where the pyrites appear to have been decomposed. On this occasion, therefore, it would now be a want of justice, not to subjoin the full and more particular account, given in the Journal de Physique, (Tome 2. p. 251.), by M. M. Fougeroux, of the stone which fell in Maine; and which has already been shortly mentioned, as described in the Hist. de l'Acad. des Sciences (for 1769. p. 20), with two others, from Artois, and Cotentin; because this also, both in its history, and in its appearance, seems to have had so near an affinity to the Yorkshire stone. On the 13th of September, 1768, about half an hour after four in the afternoon, there was seen near the castle of Lucé in Maine, a tempestuous cloud; from which was heard an explosion of thunder, like the firing of a cannon, but without the appearance of lightning: there was then heard a remarkable whizzing noise in the air; and some persons travelling, on looking up, saw an opaque body descending in a curved line; which fell in a green patch of ground near the high road to Mons. They all ran instantly to the spot; and found a kind of stone, one half of which was buried in the soil; and which was so burning hot, that they could not possibly touch it. This stone weighed seven pounds and an half: was of a triangular, (or rather of a pyramidal form).-The part which was buried in the earth, was of a grey ash colour; and that which E was exposed to the air was extremely black; covered with a very thin black crust, somewhat puffed up in places, and which appeared to have been melted. The interior part of the stone, when examined with a magnifying glass, appeared of a grey pale ash colour, spotted with a prodigious number of minute brilliant metallic spots, and of a pale yellow, -The interior part, when stricken with steel, would not yield any sparks; but the exterior coating did. The specific gravity of the stone was 3,535.-And the chemical analysis of it, shewed it to contain, in 100 parts; 8 of sulphur; 36 of iron; and 551⁄2 of vitrifiable earth. The academicians, indeed, thought it was a stone merely struck by lightning: but, since so many corresponding facts, in other places, so remote, and so unconnected with each other, and suggesting a more interesting idea, have now come to light; such sort of concurrent evidence, according to the rule so wisely adopted by the learned Grotius, in his treatise De Veritate, ought, surely, to be duly weighed and may justly lead us to a different conclusion. |