By Neus Ibáñez, Museu Ciencies Naturals Barcelona (Institut Botanic de Barcelona)

On Christmas Day 1704, at 17 h (UT), a meteorite fell in Terrassa (about 25 km NW of Barcelona). The meteorite fall was seen and heard by many people over an area of several hundred kilometres and it was recorded in numerous historical archives. Although it was believed that meteorite fragments were never preserved, a manuscript published recently (Llorca et al., 2020) discusses the recent discovery of two fragments (49.8 and 33.7 g) of the Barcelona meteorite in the Salvador Cabinet collection (Botanic Institute of Barcelona). These fragments are among the oldest historical meteorites preserved in the world.

The team of Botanic Institute of Barcelona and the Natural Science Museum of Barcelona found the meteorite fragments of the Salvador collection in a glass jar referenced as number 205 along with a small envelope with the annotation written in Catalan “n°205 Meteorite?” (n°205 Meteorit?). Inside the envelope, we discovered an old label glued to a piece of paper. The label, written in Catalan, is incomplete and the ink has lost density, but it is still possible to read:
“Stone that fell from […]in[…]1704” (Pe[d]ra [que ca]ygué d’un […]u es[…] en[…]y 1704).” The whole set is currently catalogued in the Salvador collection: reference Salv-8355.

Nothing is known about how the meteorite fragments reached the Salvador’s family collection. In 1710, Joan Salvador i Riera (1683–1726) (the most important member in the family) accompanied the protophysician of Catalonia on a visit to apothecaries from different cities in Catalonia. One of them being Terrassa (Jordi, 1982) where they visited at least three apothecaries. Therefore, we can hypothesize that someone from the Terrassa apothecaries could have been in possession of some fragments of the Barcelona meteorite and gave them to Joan Salvador. The small envelope and its annotation could be dated near 1938, when the Salvador Cabinet was acquired by the Botanic Institute of Barcelona. Pius Font i Quer (1888–1964), the founder of this institution, rescued this collection abandoned for more than a century in a farmhouse thanks to a decree of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Ibáñez, 2006). Probably, the glue used to fix the piece of paper also dated from this time. The label, which could date from the 18th century, is originally from the Salvador family, but it does not seem to have been handwritten by Joan Salvador; perhaps an amanuensis transcribed the original data. The jar is made of mouth-blown glass, the traditional method used in the 18th century.

This is a good example of how the archives can help us to interpret a label and give information about the specimen to catalogue.
References
Bolló J. 1717. Miscelánea científica ilustrada. Barcelona. p. 122
Camarasa J. M. 2018. Descripcions i noticies del gabinet Salvador en llibres de viatges, guies i altres documents impresos (1713–1895). Collectanea Botanica 37: e001.
Ibáñez N. 2006. Estudis sobre cinc herbaris històrics de l’Institut Botànic de Barcelona. Ph.D. thesis, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Jordi R. 1982. Visita de boticas en Cataluña a principios del siglo XVIII (16-3-1710/10-4-1710). Circular Farmaceutica 274:111–139.
Llorca, J., Campeny, M., Ibáñez, N., Allepuz, D., Camarasa, J.M. and Aurell-Garrido, J. (2020), The meteorite of Barcelona (1704): History, discovery, and classification. Meteorit Planet Sci, 55: 705-725. https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13455
Solar J. 1705. Juizio sobre el celeste señal que sucedió en el día 23. del mes de Noviembre deste presente Año 1705. que es la confirmación de aquel prodigioso Señal, que se vió en 25. de Deziembre de 1704. dia de la Natividad de Jesu-Christo Nuestro Señor, que tanto ha dado que discurrir á los curiosos. Barcelona: Impr. B. Giralt. p. 4