| 390 than here supposed, its velocity appeared to be very great, but as I heard no explosion by which its true distance and altitude might have been determined, the elevation of one mile is but hypothesis. The meteor of the 18th August, 1793, described by Mr. Cavello, in the Philosophical Transactions of London for 1784 he places by vague and uncertain data at an elevation from the earth of 56 1-2 miles, and pretends to have heard the explosion twelve minutes after, at 130 miles distance!
May not each of these jellies be the residum [residuum] or symthetical result of the combustion or discharge of a large portion of gasses, through an electrical agent? The universal downward tendency of their motion shows that their specific gravity is much more than that of the atmosphere, and that they therefore must be formed at the moment of discharge.
'The editor puts after this the account of the shower of flesh and blood that fell lately in South Carolina, and says perhaps Mr. B.'s theory will explain it. There may be something in this; and the two substances noticed in each case may result from the same cause, and that so often laughed at under the name of 'a shower of flesh and blood' be a very philosophic and true thing after all.
But Mr. B. is mistaken in calling them meteors in the common acceptation of that term, we have no hesitation in saying. Those fiery masses that pass so rapidly through the air, accompanied often with loud detonations and throwing off fragments that reach the earth, are something entirely different. Those fragments are stone and are hurled so violently as to be embedded in the soil. The meteor described by Mr. Cavillo, in 1783, and to which Mr. Bennet refers, we take to be an entirely different thing from ordinary shooting stars. That it had a great altitude is also highly probable, for some of them most certainly have. The heavy stones which they have frequently hurled to the earth, would have effectually demolished the maid's milk pail. The substance of the meteoric showers, so called, no one pretends to know. They are supposed, however, to be entirely different from the ordinary shooting stars.
The falling star that any one may see of a clear night, has long been regarded by philosophers as a gelatinous matter, inflated with phosphuretted [phosphoretted ?] hydrogen gas: and the splendid meteor of Mr. Bennet was doubtless one of those ordinary shooting stars appearing very bright by its proximity. The gelatinous substance he found, accords with the experience and theory of others, and indeed is a very singular and curious corroboration of them.
That these substances 'must be formed at the moment of discharge, we do not think necessary. Their ascent and descent would depend entirely on the amount of gas they contain.
The idea of accounting for the shower of flesh and blood on this theory is certainly new to us, and deserves, we think assecond [a second] thought.'
We think the following scriptures will explain it more scripturally, if not more philosophically.
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and upon the earth, distress of nations with perplexity:' Luke, XXI;25.
'And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord shall come:' Joel, II;30-3l-Ed.
ANCIENT RUINS.
Every day adds fresh testimony to the already accumulated evidence on the authenticity of the "Book of Mormon." At the time that book was translated there was very little known about ruined cities and dilapidated buildings. The general presumption was, that no people possessing more intelligence than our present race of Indians had ever inhabited this continent, and the accounts given in the Book of Mormon concerning large cities and civilized people having inhabited this land, was generally disbelieved and pronounced a humbug. Priest, since then has thrown some light on this interesting subject. Stephens in his "Incidents of Travels in Central America," has thrown in a flood of testimony, and from the following statements it is evident that the Book of Mormon does not give a more extensive account of large and populous cities than those discoveries now demonstrate to be even in existence.-Ed.
(From the Texas Telegraph, Oct. 11.)
We have been informed by a gentleman who has traversed a large portion of the Indian country of Northern Texas, and the country lying between Santa Fe and the Pacific, that there are vestiges of ancient cities and ruined castles or temples on the Rio Puerco and on the Colorado of the west. He says that one of the branches of the Rio Puerco, a few days travel from Santa Fe, there is an immense pile of ruins that appear to belong to an ancient temple. Portions of the walls are still standing, consisting of huge blocks of limestone regularly hewn, and laid in cement. The building occupies an extent of more than an acre. It is two or three stories high, has no roof, but contains
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