Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 457 



calculations might be examined. — M. Lassis again expressed his 

 opinion on the subject of epidemic diseases. — A letter was read, in 

 which chloride of lime was mentioned as a remedy for the distemper 

 in dogs. — MM. Chevalier and Langlume* sent their memoir On li- 

 thography. — M. Poisson read a notice On the problem of waves. — 

 M. Benoiston de Chateauneuf communicated a manuscript work re- 

 specting the wheat-harvest of France in former and present times. 



LXXVIII. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



METEORIC IRON IN FRANCE. 



MHERICART DE THURY, on 13th of October last, read a no- 

 • tice to the Academy of Sciences respecting the discovery of a 

 mass ofmeteoric iron existing at CaillejUearGrasse, department duVar. 

 In August last, M. Braid sent from Frejus a specimen of the mass in 

 question, with respect to the origin of which he did not decide. The 

 examination made by the author caused him to suspect that it might 

 be meteoric iron, and he therefore wrote to M. Brard to beg that he 

 would go to the place, in order to determine the nature of the moun- 

 tain on which it was discovered j to examine the mass of supposed 

 meteoric iron j and to collect from the. inhabitants all the information 

 which they could give him. The following is extracted from the ac- 

 count given by M. Brard : — The mass of iron, which had been for two 

 years placed at the door of the church at Caille, has been in that vil- 

 lage about 150 years. It was discovered in the mountain of Aude- 

 bert, a league off, and was drawn by four oxen into a court or garden 

 in the village, where it seems to have been forgotten ; but an inhabitant 

 having inclosed it in a wall, it was claimed as an object held in some 

 veneration ; the wall was pulled down by the authorities, and the 

 enormous mass was deposited in the principal street of the village, 

 from which it was removed to the spot which it now occupies. 



The form of the mass is very irregular j its external colour blackish 

 brown, with a shade of lead-colour ; it is shining, but occasionally 

 spotted with yellow rust ; its internal colour is whiter than that of 

 common iron. It weighs about 1000 or 1200 pounds. 



The mountain on which this mass was found is of considerable al- 

 titude, and similar to those which surround it ; there are no appear- 

 ances of iron-works having ever existed in the neighbourhood. 



This iron has the crystalline appearance which marks its meteoric 

 origin, and M. Laugier has found that it contains nickel. Application 

 has been made for its removal to Paris, and this has probably been 

 already accomplished. 



It was reported in the village that two smaller masses were found 

 with it, which were used for making horseshoes, nails, &c. It was 

 also proposed to heat this mass, and thus divide it and apply it to the 

 same purposes ; fortunately for the interests of science the greatness 

 of the mass prevented the intended destruction. — Le Globe. 



Nexv Series. Vol.4-. No. 24. Dec. 1828. 3N iron 



