In the _Quarterly Review_ just published, the reviewer, in the course of an
interesting article on "Meteors, Aerolites, and Shooting Stars," makes a
suggestion which, if admitted into "N. & Q.," may {106} meet the eye of
some English resident or traveller in the East, who will give to it the
attention it deserves.
A great degree of interest is attached to the recorded fall of aerolites in
times past, and the most remarkable and authentic record of antiquity on
this subject is that of the massive stone which fell in the 78th Olympiad
(about the time of the birth of Socrates), at Ægospotamos (the goat's
river), on the Hellespont,--the place soon afterwards the scene of that
naval victory of Lysander, in the last year of the Peloponnesian war, which
subjected Athens and Greece for a time to the Spartan power. The fall of
this stone, says the reviewer, is expressly mentioned by Aristotle; by the
author of the Parian Chronicle; by Diogenes of Apollonia; and most fully by
Plutarch and Pliny, both of whom distinctly state it to be shown in their
time--the sixth century after its fall. Pliny's description is well marked.
"Qui lapis etiam nunc ostenditur, magnitudine vehis, colore adusto;" and he
adds the fact that a burning comet (meteor) accompanied its descent.
Plutarch explicitly states that it was still held in much veneration by the
inhabitants of the Chersonesus. He also speaks of its vast size. If the
mass remained visible, and of such magnitude as described, down to Pliny's
time, it is far from impossible (remarks the reviewer) that it may even now
be re-discovered, with the aid, perchance, of some stray tradition attached
to the place, surviving, as often happens, the lapse of ages, the changes
of human dominion, and even the change of race itself, upon the spot. The
locality, indeed, is not further indicated than by the statement of its
fall at Ægospotamos; but the invariable manner in which it is thus
described defines tolerably well the district to be examined. We learn (he
adds) from the old geographers, that there was a town called Ægospotami on
the Thracian side of the Hellespont, and we may infer a stream from which
its name was derived. The description of the naval fight, and the situation
relatively to Lampsacus (the modern Lamsaki), further define the locality
within certain limits. The reviewer then adds some practical suggestions of
importance. The traveller devoting himself to this research should make his
head-quarters at various places near the spot in question. He should render
himself previously familiar with the aspect of meteoric stones, as now seen
in European cabinets, and should study the character of rocks and
fragmentary masses in the vicinity, to appreciate the differences of
aspect. A small part only of the mass may now appear above the surface, and
may even be wholly concealed by alluvial deposits, in which case the
research would, of course, be in vain, unless happily aided by local
tradition, which at the outset should be sedulously sought for. The
research, if successful, would be of interest enough, both for history and
science, to perpetuate a man's name. In the hope that some of the
correspondents of "N. & Q.," now sojourning in, or likely to visit the
locality, may be tempted to undertake it, I send you these suggestions,
extracted from an article of no small scientific interest and value; and I
will conclude with the Query, whether the "sacred black stone," which is
mentioned by Colonel Williams (the British Commissioner for the settlement
of the Turkish boundary question) to be regarded by the Seids inhabiting
Despool as their palladium, has any legend of meteoric origin connected
with its history?