On February 10, 1896, a large meteorite burst over Madrid with a loud report. The concussion was so great that many windows in the city were broken, and some partitions in houses were shaken down![243]
A very brilliant meteor or fireball was seen in daylight on June 9, 1900, at 2h 55m p.m. from various places in Surrey, Sussex, and near London. Calculations showed that “the meteor began 59 miles in height over a point 10 miles east of Valognes, near Cherbourg, France. Meteor ended 23 miles in height, over Calais, France. Length of path 175 miles. Radiant point, 280°, 12°.”[244]
It was decided some years ago “in the American Supreme Court that a meteorite, though a stone fallen from heaven, belongs to the owner of the freehold interest in the land on which it falls, and not to the tenant.”[245]
With reference to the fall of meteoric matter on the earth, Mr. Proctor says, “It is calculated by Dr. Kleiber of St. Petersburgh that 4250 lbs. of meteoric dust fall on the earth every hour—that is, 59 tons a day, and more than 11,435 tons a year. I believe this to be considerably short of the truth. It sounds like a large annual growth, and the downfall of such an enormous mass of meteoric matter seems suggestive of some degree of danger. But in reality, Dr. Kleiber’s estimate gives only about 25 millions of pounds annually, which is less than 2 ounces annually to each square mile of the earth’s surface,”[246] a quantity which is, of course, quite insignificant.
According to Humboldt, Chladni states that a Franciscan monk was killed by the fall of an aërolite at Milan in the year 1660.[247] Humboldt also mentions the death by meteoric stones of a monk at Crema on September 4, 1511, and two Swedish sailors on board ship in 1674.[248]
It is a curious fact that, according to Olbers, “no fossil meteoric stones” have ever been discovered.[249] Considering the number which are supposed to have fallen to the earth in the course of ages, this fact seems a remarkable one.
On May 10, 1879, a shower of meteorites fell at Eitherville, Iowa (U.S.A.). Some of the fragments found weighed 437, 170, 92½, 28, 10½, 4 and 2 lbs. in weight. In the following year (1880) when the prairie grass had been consumed by a fire, about “5000 pieces were found from the size of a pin to a pound in weight.”[250]
According to Prof. Silvestria of Catania, a shower of meteoric dust mixed with rain fell on the night of March 29, 1880. The dust contained a large proportion of iron in the metallic state. In size the particles varied from a tenth to a hundredth of a millimetre.[251]
It is sometimes stated that the average mass of a “shooting star” is only a few grains. But from comparisons with an electric arc light, Prof. W. H. Pickering concludes that a meteor as bright as a third magnitude star, composed of iron or stone, would probably have a diameter of 6 or 7 inches. An average bright fireball would perhaps measure 5 or 6 feet in diameter.[252]
In the Book of Joshua we are told “that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died” (Joshua x. 11). In the latter portion of the verse “hailstones” are mentioned, but as the original Hebrew word means stones in general (not hailstones), it seems very probable that the stones referred to were aërolites.[253]