Abstract
WITH reference to the remark in NATURE of July 27, p. 128, in a notice of Prof. Heide's ” Kleine Meteoriten-kunde” that ” it is reassuring to find that there is no certain evidence of any person having been killed by a falling meteorite”, may I direct attention to the following: (1) Humboldt in his ” Cosmos”, vol. 1 (English translation by E. C. Otté. London, Bohn, 1849, p. 124), writes: ” Several persons had been struck dead by stones falling from heaven, as for instance, a monk at Crema on September 4, 1511 ; another monk at Milan in 1650 and two Swedish sailors on board-ship in 1674”. (2) T. L. Phipson, in his ” Meteors, Aerolites and Falling Stars” (p. 85) (London: Lovell Reeve, 1867), also mentions these incidents and describes particularly the Crema incident at great length, as the result of a meteoric shower, citing ” The Commentary” of Surius, a Carthusian monk of Cologne, ” De Rerum Varietate” of Jerome Cardan, and ” Opus Epistol-arum” of Petrus Martyr ; and adds that ” birds, sheep and even some fish were killed by the shower”.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
KHAN, M. Records of Fatalities from Falling Meteorites. Nature 136, 607 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/136607a0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/136607a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.