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Show 434 NORTHERN CHILE. June, 1835. a large meteor of great splendour." It is remarkable that on this same day, according to the Journal of Science,* Copiap6 to the northward was visited by a severe earthquake, which on the fifth was followed by a much m?re violent shock. Molina t states that the first shock wh1ch announced the great earthquake at midnight on the 24th of May 17 51, "was accompanied by a ball of fire, which preci,p itated itself from the Andes toward the sea. " I t 1. s said in the Encyclo. Metropol.- (art. Meteorology)-" At Kingston, in Jamaica, in November 1812, a large meteor appeared a few minutes previous to some alarming and tremendous concussions." Aguerros t states, on the authority of Ovalle, that in the morning of May 14th, 1633, Carelmapu (north of Chiloe) was overthrown by a bad earthquake, accompanied by a great noise; and that while the people were considering the cause, they saw over a high hill near the village a globe of fire, which appeared to threaten the last day. It rose and quickly proceeded so as to fall in the sea, disturbing the neighbouring waters. This was accompanied by a great tempest, darkness, and a hail-storm, in which pieces of ice fell as large as musket-balls. I have copied the foregoing notices, because under any point of view, it is remarkable that in one quarter of the globe there should have been so many coincidences between phenomena of not very common occurrence. It must, however, be observed, that the coincidence is not precise; the • Vol. xvii. t Molina (Spanish edition), vol. i., p. 33. At six o'clock in the evening of the 26th of May of the same year, that is about thirty-seven bout.; after the Concepcion earthquake, two meteoric stones fell near Agram in Croatia. They were seen coming .from the west, which is in an opposite direction to the course of the Chilian meteor. This near coincidence of time was of course only accidental. :j: Descripcion Historial de Chiloe, p. 104. " Vieron sobre un monte o cerro alto inmediato al pueblo, un globo de fuego que parecia amenezada la ultima desgracia. Elev6 se y fhe luego a caer al mar, alterando inmediatamente sus aguas." June, 1835, ME'l'EORS A~ D EARTHQU AK ES. 435 meteors having been seen in some cases a little before in others a little after the earthquake. From the accoun~ given in Aguerros of the waters of the sea havino- beeu disturbed, and from that by Miers of an appar:nt explosion, it would appear that these meteors must be the same with those that accompany the fall of meteoric stones. This perhaps alone, is an argument that they are accidental accompaniments of earthquakes; for there seems to be no rational method of explaining the origin of meteurolites on any hypothesis directly connected with our world. It is however very singular, that all their constituent parts should be of the same nature as those found on this earth -that the metals should be chiefly those most subject to' magnetic in:fluence,-and that olivine should frequently be present; a mineral* which is exclusively confined to a certain class of volcanic products. 'ro return to the valley of Copiap6. Finding little of interest in this part of the ravine, we retraced our steps to the house of Don Benito, where I staid two days collecting fossil shells and silicified wood. The latter was present in the most extraordinary quantity: it was here that I found a cylindrical trunk, fifteen feet in circumference, projecting from the side of a hill. It was amusing to hear discussions concerning the nature of the fossil shells,-whether or not they had been thus "born by nature,"-carried on almost in the same terms as were used a century before in Europe. My geological examination of the country generally created a good deal of surprise amongst the Chilenos : it was long before they would be convinced that I was not hunting for mines. This was sometimes troublesome. I found the most * Olivine is known to accompany basaltic in opposition to clinkstone rocks. Gmelin says. " Natron and potash characterize clinkstone; iron and magnesia, basalt.'' " Magnesia and iron show a great tendency to enter into combination with each other." These two latter substances are main constituents of meteoric stones, while the alkalies are generally present in very small quantities. Gmclin on Clinkstone, Edinburgh New Philosoph . .Journal, April, 1829. 2 F 2 |