For first; the fall of four stones is precisely ascertained: one of which was of an irregular figure, with a point like that of a diamond;—weighed five pounds and an half;—and had a vitriolic smell.—And another weighed three pounds and an half;—was black on the outside, as if from smoke;—and, internally, seemed composed of matter of the colour of ashes;—in which were perceived small spots of metals, of gold and silver.
And, besides these, Professor Soldani of Siena, was shewn about fifteen others: the surfaces of which were glazed black, like a sort of varnish;—resisted acids;—and were too hard to be scratched with the point of a penknife.
Signior Andrew Montauli, who saw the cloud, as he was travelling, described it as appearing much above the common region of the clouds; and as being clearly discerned to be on fire;—and becoming white, by degrees; not only where it had a communication, by a sort of stream of smoke and lightning, with a neighbouring similar cloud: but also, at last, in two-third parts of its whole mass, which was originally black. And yet he took notice, that it was not affected by the rays of the sun, though they shone full on its lower parts.—And he could discern as it were the bason of a fiery furnace, in the cloud, having a whirling motion.
This curious observer gives an account also, of a stone, which he was assured fell from the cloud, at the feet of a farmer; and was dug out of the ground, into which it had penetrated.—And he says, that it was about five inches long, and four broad; nearly square; and polished: black on the surface, as if smoked; but within, like a sort of sand-stone, with various small particles of iron, and bright metallic stars.
Other stones are described by him; which were said to have fallen at the same time: were triangular; and terminated in a sort of (pyramidal) or conical figure.—And others were so small as to weigh not more than an ounce.
Professor Soldani saw another stone, said to have fallen from the cloud, which had the figure of a parallelopiped, blunted at the angles; and was as it were varnished, on the outside, with a black crust; and quite unlike any stones whatever of the soil of the country where it had fallen.
Two ladies being at Cozone, about 20 miles from Siena, saw a number of stones fall, with a great noise, in a neighbouring meadow: one of which, being soon after taken up by a young woman, burnt her hand: another burnt a countryman's hat: and a third was said to strike off the branch of a mulberry tree; and to cause the tree to wither.
Another stone, of about two ounces weight, fell near a girl watching sheep; a young person, whose veracity it is said could not be doubted.—This stone, the Professor tells us, is also a parallelopiped, with the angles rounded; and its internal substance is like that of the others; only with more metallic spots; especially when viewed with a magnifying glass: and the black external crust appears to be minutely crystallized.
Many others, of a similar kind, were in the possession of different persons at Siena.
And besides the falling of these from the cloud, there is described to have been a fall of sand; seen by keepers of cattle near Cozone, together with the falling of what appeared like squibs; and which proved afterwards to be stones, of the sort just described, weighing two or three ounces:—and some only a quarter of an ounce.