«42 An Account of a Shower of Meteoric Stones^ 



3. The whole stone is thickly interspersed with metallic 

 pointSj many of them evident to the eye, and they appear 

 numerous and distinct with a lens. Their colour is whitish, 

 and was mistaken by the discoverers of the stone for silver. 

 They appear to be chiefly malleable iron alloyed with 

 nickel. 



4. The lead-coloured mass which cements these things 

 together, has been described already, and constitutes by far 

 the greater part of the stone. After being wet and exposed 

 to the air, the stone becomes covered with numerous red- 

 dish spots, which do not appear in a fresh fracture, and arise 

 manifestly from the rusting of the irv>n. 



Finally y the stone has been analysed in the laboratory of 

 this College according to the excellent instructions of 

 Howard, Vauquelin, and Fourcroy. The analysis was 

 hasty, and intended only for the purpose of general informa- 

 tion. The exact proportions, and the steps of the analysis, 

 arc reserved for more leisure, and may be given to the phi- 

 losophical world hereafter. It is sufficient at present to ob- 

 serve that the stone appears to consist of the following in- 

 gredients : — sileXy iron, magnesia, nickel, sulphur. 



The two first constitute by far the greater part of the 

 stone — :the third is in considerable proportion, but muclt 

 ks9 than the others — the fourth is probably still less ; and 

 the sulphur exists in a small bot indeterminate quantity. 



Most of the iron is in a perfectly metallic state ; the 

 whole stone attracts the magnet, and this instrument takes 

 up a large proportion of it when pulverized. Portions of me- 

 tallic iron may be separated, &o large that they can be 

 readily extended under the hammer^ Some of the iron is 

 in combinatioii with sulphur in the pyrites, and probably 

 most of the iron is alloyed by nickel. 



It remains to be observed that this account of the appear- 

 ance of the stone accords very exactly with the descriptions^ 

 now become considerably numerous, of similar bodies which 

 have fallen in other countries at various periods; and with 

 specimen?^ which one of us has inspected, .of stones -t^at 

 have fallen in India, France, and Scotland. The chemical 

 analysis also proves that ihcir composition is the same ; and 



it 



