AEROLITE (arjp, air, and XNes, a stone), a stony or metallic body, which, falling through the atmosphere, reaches the earth's surface. These meteoric stones generally contain a considerable proportion of iron ; indeed, the iron in some of these substances exceeds the siliceous matter, and some have then given them the name of meteoric irons. A remarkable aerolite that fell at /Egospotami, in 467 B.C., was, according to Pliny, to be seen in his day, and was then as large as a waggon. In 1492 one fell at Ensisheim, in Alsace, that weighed 270 lb. ; and, not to mention others, one of 12 lb weight is reported to-have fallen in California in August 1873, which penetrated the earth to the depth of 8 feet, and when dug up was so hot that it could not be handled. Aerolites often reach the earth in groups or showers, as at L'Aigle, in Normandy, in 1803; at New Concord, Ohio, in May 1860 ; and at Dhurmsala, in the Punjaub, in July the same year. The area on which a shower of aerolites falls is usually elliptical, the largest stones being near one end of the ellipse, the major axis of which extends in some eases to a length, of eighteen or twenty miles. See METEOR.