The Thing itself lay almost entirely buried in sand, amidst the
scattered splinters of a fir tree it had shivered to fragments in its
descent.  The uncovered part had the appearance of a huge cylinder,
caked over and its outline softened by a thick scaly dun-coloured
incrustation.  It had a diameter of about thirty yards.  He approached
the mass, surprised at the size and more so at the shape, since most
meteorites are rounded more or less completely.  It was, however,
still so hot from its flight through the air as to forbid his near
approach.  A stirring noise within its cylinder he ascribed to the
unequal cooling of its surface; for at that time it had not occurred
to him that it might be hollow.