Published: 2015-07-27
Total Pages: 346
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Excerpt from The Mineralogical Magazine, Vol. 3: And Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland For example, it would be interesting to ascertain to what depth the stone penetrated, and in what soil. Whether hot when found. Whether it descended in a cloudless sky, or during a storm; and if a meteor was seen, to note its direction, and whether it exploded before reaching the earth. The accompanying noise, if any, should also be described. In no single instance have I been able to obtain satisfactory answers to all these particulars; and in some cases, indeed, only the bare fact seems to have been recorded that a stone fell on such a date, and at such a place. Of the stones themselves some have been irrecoverably lost, others have found their way into foreign museums, and some are in the possession of private individuals. In dealing with long periods of time, and a large area of country, anyone who has attempted to collect evidence regarding an event which took place even a few years ago, must be aware how exceedingly difficult is the task of separating truth from error. My purpose, as I have said before, is to collect everything that is known on the subject of British Meteorites; to establish by means of copious references every fact relative to each recorded fall; and to inquire into all doubtful instances, so as to ascertain, if possible, whether their authenticity can be proved, and to expunge them from the list if they can be shewn to be the results of errors. The doubtful instances of meteoric falls may be classed under four general heads: - 1st. A meteor has been seen apparently to fall, and a search has been made where it seemed to descend. The results of these searches have included nodules of pyrite, fragments of scoriae, hematite, and ordinary pebbles, all distinctly terrestial, but which have been described as "Meteorites." 2nd. A mistake for ball lightning; the popular opinion being that a thunderbolt is a red hot stone, capable of setting fire to houses or barns, instead of a simple discharge of electric fluid. For this reason any instance of a meteorite alleged to have fallen during a thunderstorm, should perhaps be looked upon with an extra amount of suspicion. 3rd. The historical and typographical errors, common to all writers and printers. 4th. Hoaxes. These, I regret to say, have been perpetrated on two or three occasions recently, and the knowledge of the extreme importance and interest attached to the descent of a meteorite has prompted some unscrupulous persons to send to the newspapers accounts carefully compiled, and bearing every mark of authenticity, which on enquiry have been proved to be without a vestige of foundation. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."