Meteorology

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Our foreign exchanges make mention of a curious phenomen that lately presented itself in the Gironde, France, being nothing less than the descent of an aerolite weighing over 90 lbs., by which a horse was killed from the injuries received. It appears that the phenomenon was seen by a child that was tending the animal, and who was some yards off at the time of the occurrence ; a sudden noise like thunder at a distance, caused him to look up, and he perceived a black mass, the sight of which terrified him so much that he could not take to flight, cleaving the air and falling in the direction towards him. Fortunately he escaped, and the mass fell upon the horse's back, which was knocked down by the blow. The aerolite has been examined by different persons, who, from a close examination, judge it to contain a large quantity of iron mixed with other earthy and metallic substances. The New Orleans papers speak highly of specimens of hemp made from the fibres of the okra, or " gumbo " plant. They state that the merit of this hemp consists in the cheapness of its culture, the abundance of the raw material, the quickness wi' h which it grows, giving, they understand, three crops a year, its superior yield to the acre, of five times as much as the Kentucky hemp, its more durable qualities in water or damp than any other hemp, and its easy manufacture into bagging. It is stated that the article can be produced at the North as well as the South, though not so profusely, and that it will supersede all other sorts of hemp in the manufacture of bagging.

Scientific American Magazine Vol 8 Issue 30This article was published with the title “Meteorology” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 8 No. 30 (), p. 235
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican04091853-235g

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