An Acctnint of a Shower of Meteoric Stones, 241 



fhens, may be distinctly perceived portions of the external 

 part of the meteor. 



It is every where covered with a thin black crust, desti-* 

 tute of splendour, and bounded by portions of the large irre- 

 gular curve which seems to have enclosed the meteoric mass. 

 This curve is far from being uniform. It is sometimes de- 

 ()ressed witli concavities such as might be produced by 

 pressing a soft and yielding substance. The surface of the 

 crust feels harsh like the prepared fish skin or shagreen. It 

 gives sparks with steel. There are certain portions of 

 the stones covered with the black crust, which appear not 

 to have formed a part of the outside of the meteor, but to 

 have received this coating in the interior parts, in conse- 

 quence of fissures or cracks, produced probably by the in- 

 tense heat to which the body seems to have been subjected. 

 The specific ojravity of the stone is 3*6, water being 1. The 

 colour of the mass of the stone is principally a dark ash, or 

 more properly a leaden colour. It is interspersed with di- 

 stinct masses, from the size of a pin's head to the diameter 

 of one or two inches, which are almost white, resembling 

 in many instances the crystals of feldtspar in some varieties 

 of granite, and in that species of porphyry known by the 

 name of verd antique. 



The texture of the stone is granular and coarse, resem- 

 bling some pieces of grit-stone. It cannot be broken by the 

 fingers, but gives a rough and irregular fracture with the 

 hammer. 



On inspecting the mass, four distinct kinds of matter 

 may be perceived by the eye. 



1. The stone is thickly interspersed with black globular 

 masses, most of them spherical, some arc oblong and irre- 

 gular. The largest are of the t>ize of a pigeon-shot, but 

 generally they arc much snialler. They can bfe detached 

 with any pointed iron instrument and leave a concavity in 

 the stone. They are not attractable by the magnet, and can 

 fee broken with the hammer. 



2. Masses of yellow pyrites may be observed. Some of 

 them are of a brilliant golden colour, and are readily di- 

 stinguished with the eye. 



Vol. 30. No. 1 1 9. April 1 808. Q s. The 



