Musique des sphères

Wisconsin Democrat de Madison (Wisconsin, USA), samedi 25 mars 1848
s1 Guenther, Daniel: "1848: music of the spheres", Magonia Exchange, 26 septembre 2007

From the Journal of Commerce.

L'article d'origine
L'article d'origine

Le vendredi 25 décembre 1846 un bruit fut entendu dans les environs de Midenthal (Allemagne) dans un rayon de 18 ligues de diamètre, ressemblant au 1er instant à une cannonade au loin. Après 20 décharges presque uniformes, ce bruit changea presque en un grondement, dont le son ressemblait de manière frappante à celui d'un tambour de bouilloire taned in F, et se termina avec des sons semblables ceux de trompettes éloignées. L'ensemble du phénomène dura près de 3 mn, et fut entendu de même manière dans tout le district. Chaque auditeur pensa avoir entendu le bruit dans sa tête, mais rien ne fut observé qui put expliquer le phénomène. Dans le village de Schoenberg, cependant, à l'ouest de Midenthal, plusieurs personnes découvrirent au-dessus de la maison une boule noire descendant rapidement, et un homme la vit tomber dans un jardin ? Les nouvelles de l'événement se répandirent rapidement alentour, et tous les habitants, abandonant leurs firesides and family festivities ran to the spot pointed out. They found an opening in the earth which emitted a sulphurous vapor. On digging with great zeal, a stone was discovered two feet below the surface, in the form of a regular truncated pyramid with four narrow lateral surfaces, and a fifth somewhat wider. The base is smooth enough. The summit is prismatic, and the corners and rounded. It weights almost eight Kilograms. Its dimensions are eight inches in height, seven in breadth, and three in thickness. The fracture is greyish-white, spotted with white, and several chrystalized metellic fragments were noticed upon its surface, especially some octahedral chrystals of iron, which attracted the magnet.

The above is the account given of the phenomenon to the editor of the Augsburgh Gazette. A body of similar composition is described by M. Arago, in a communication to the Academy of Sciences, that fell in a district in France, in 1841, and was heard at great distance; and the sound which followed the lat of the several explosions was quite musical. That learned astronomer denominated the extraordinary sound the music of the spheres. A large stone was seen to fall and was exhumed from the field while yet warm. Fragments of this body were scattered in a path of 16 miles wide and 60 miles long. I have detailed particular accounts of three other aerolites which have fallen to the earth the present year.