Art XLV. – Notice of a Meteorite which fell in Hindostan in 1857; by J. LANG CASSELS, MD, Professor of Chemistry, Cleveland Med. Coll., Ohio.

This meteorite fell near the small village of Parnallee in the extreme south part of Hindostan, and was obtained and sent to the Western Reserve College, Ohio, by the Rev. H. S. Taylor, a graduate of that Institution, at present connected with the Madura mission. Along with the stone he sent the following account of its fall, &c:

“Two meteoric stones fell on the 28th of February, 1857, from a clear sky, about noon, near the village of Parnallee, where some of our Christian people live. The smaller one weighs 37 pounds, and the larger is three or four times as heavy. The larger fell first, the smaller two or three seconds after, and some two or three miles south of the first one. The larger falling into tenacious and hard earth sunk into the ground but two feet and five inches. It came from the north, making an angle with the vertical of about fifteen degrees.

“The smaller one fell perpendicularly and sunk into the ground two feet eight inches. As no rain had fallen since they fell, I was able, on going there three days ago – April, 1857 – to make sure their depth, to see just the impression they left when taken up, and to assure myself by enquiry and observation as to the stones having fallen there. Some children were picking cotton within a few rods of the first when it fell; and two women were standing near the place where the second fell. A cloud of dust was seen to be raised in each case, for the ground was very dry. Before night the larger stone was visited by crowds of persons from the neighboring villages, who commenced worshiping it as the image of their deity which had fallen from heaven.”

The noise which these meteorites made while passing through the atmosphere is described as being terrific to all in the vicinity; and Mr. Tayor adds, that it was reported to have been heard some 15 to 20 miles from where they fell.
(Exerpt from Marks’ historicfalls.com website)