the sky being quite clear, he saw a
burning stone fall in the neighborhood of Nice, and examined the mass.
While in the air it appeared to be about four feet in diameter, was
surrounded by a luminous circle of colors like a rainbow, and its fall
was accompanied by a noise like the discharge of artillery. Upon
inspecting the substance, he found it weighed 59 lbs., was extremely
hard, of a dull, metallic color, and of a specific gravity considerably
greater than that of common marble. Having only this solitary instance
of such an occurrence, Gassendi concluded that the mass came from some
of the mountains of Provence, which had been in a transient state of
volcanic activity. Instances of the same phenomenon occurred in the
years 1672, 1756, and 1768; but the facts were generally doubted by
naturalists, and considered as electrical appearances, magnified by
popular ignorance and timidity. A remarkable example took place in
France in the year 1790. Between nine and ten o'clock at night, on the
24th of July, a luminous ball was seen traversing the atmosphere with
great rapidity, and leaving behind it a train of light; a loud explosion
was then heard, accompanied with sparks which flew off in all
directions; this was followed by a shower of stones over a considerable
extent of ground, at various distances from each other, and of different
sizes. A _proces verbal_ was drawn up, attesting the circumstance,
signed by the magistrates of the municipality, and by several hundreds
of persons inhabiting the district. This curious document is literally
as follows: "In the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety, and the
thirtieth day of the month of August, we, the Lieut. Jean Duby, mayor,
and Louis Massillon, procurator of the commune of the municipality of La
Grange-de-Juillac, and Jean Darmite, resident in the parish of La
Grange-de-Juillac, certify in truth and verity, that on Saturday, the
24th of July last, between nine and ten o'clock, there passed a great
fire, and after it we heard in the air a very loud and extraordinary
noise; and about two minutes after there fell stones from heaven; but
fortunately there fell only a very few, and they fell about ten paces
from one another in some places, and in others nearer, and, finally, in
some other places farther; and falling, most of them, of the weight of
about half a quarter of a pound each, some others of about half a pound,
like that found in our parish of La Grange; and on the